NAT. ORDER. 
Iridacece. 
CKOCUS SATIVUS. SAFFEON CROCUS. 
Class III. Triandria. Order I. Monogynia. 
Gen. Char. Corolla, six-parted, equal. Perianth, funnel-form, the 
segments united at the base into a long* and slender tube. Stig- 
ma, three-cleft, convolute, crested. Stamens, three, alternate 
with three petals. Anthers, two-celled, extreme. 
Spe. Char. Leaves, linear, revolute at the marg-ins. Stigma, three- 
parted, as long" as the corolla, reflexed. Stem, bulbous. Flower ^ 
nearly or quite sessile. 
The root of this plant is bulbous, perennial ; the flower appears 
after the leaves, rising- very little above the ground^ upon a slender, 
succulent tube ; the leaves rise higher than the flower, and are linear, 
simple, radical, of a rich green color, with a white line running in the 
centre, and are at the base incurved along with the tube of the flower 
in a membraneous sheath ; the flower is large, of a bluish-purple or 
lilac color ; the corolla consists of six petals, which are nearly ellipti- 
cal, equal, and turned inwards at the edges ; the filaments are three, 
short, tapering, and support long, erect, yellow anthers; the germen is 
roundish, from which issues a slender style, terminated by three long, 
convoluted stigmas, of a deep yellow color; the capsule is roundish, 
three-lobed, three-celled, three-valved, and contains several round 
seeds. It flowers in September and October. 
The common variety has a yellow perianth. Although this plant 
was unknown to Ray, Miller, and several other English botanists, yet 
many pretend to say that it is a native of England. We think that 
Vol. IV.— 16. 
