458 Account and Description of Spring Crocuses, fyc. 



the back of the outer petals ; his " Crocus vernus albus poly- 

 anthos versicolor," No. 7, page 162, and Fig. 4, page 163, and 

 his " Crocus vernus albus versicolor," No. 8, have been both 

 considered to be referable to some varieties of C. versicolor. 

 There were two varieties known to Miller in 1731, which 

 in the first edition of his Dictionary are thus designated, 

 No. 11. " The Party-coloured Crocus, with many flowers," 

 which is the same as the first of Parkinson's, mentioned 

 above ; and No. 18. " The Broad-leaved Spring Crocus, 

 with a small flower of a pale colour on the outside, with 

 purple stripes, and the inside of a pale blue colour." These 

 ancient plants belong to C. versicolor ; but it is impossible 

 with the imperfect description we have of them to refer 

 them to any of our varieties. 



The seedlings of this species are much disposed to vary in 

 the colour and markings of the blossoms, and it is probable 

 if they are much attended to hereafter, that superior varieties 

 will be very extensively obtained. I have arranged those 

 which I propose to describe in four sections, under one of 

 which possibly all future productions belonging to the species 

 may be referred. The general external characters of the 

 species are as follow ; — the leaves spread widely and are not 

 very strong, some are however more upright than others. 

 The blossoms are small and appear early, they are more or 

 less sweet-scented, with a tinge of yellow at the mouth of the 

 tube ; the petals varying in colour, but the external ones are 

 more or less striped and feathered. The germen is striped 

 with six purple lines ; the anthers are yellow, strong, large, 

 and stand high; the stigmas are bright coloured and con- 

 spicuous. Most of the varieties produce seeds tolerably freely. 



