194 
132. Crocus. 20. IRIDEiE. 
Pl. end<ph* 
I. 132. CROCUS. Theophrastus. Saffron . 
Perigoniwn funnelshape; tube long; limb 6-parted, re- 
gular ; stamens 3 ; filaments awlshape, inserted in the base 
of the lobes of the perigonium; anthers linear ; pollen glo- 
bular ; ovary 3-sided, adherent ; style long, filiform ; apex 
truncated, 3-lobed; lobes wedgesbape, erose or fringed at 
the tip ; stigma terminal ; capsule 3-sided ; seeds many, 
roundish; shell succulent; perisperm horny; corculum cen- 
tral, straight, radicle descending. — Herb stemless, perennial; 
comb us double, one above the other ; tunics entire or reti- 
culately fibrous; leaves slender, linear, radical; midrib 
broad, whitish ; spathe 1 or 2 leaved, membranaceous, 1 to 3 
flowered ; capsules when ripe elevated. 
a. Lobes of the style truncated , erose or toothed ; spathe 
\-leafed ; tube of the perigonium closed above with 
hairs ; flowers vernal , with the leaves , no part yellow . 
1 . Crocus vernus* Spring saffron. 
Tunics of the combus ribbed, fibrous ; midrib of the leaves 
white; style longer than the stamens; lobes of the perigo- 
nium lanceolate, attenuated, imbricated. 
Crocus vermis fiore purpureo, Ger. em, 154, 5, 
Crocus sativus' vernus, Lin. S. P. 250. 
Crocus vernalis coerulea, Betring Nolls. GO. 
Crocus officinalis /0, Huds. FI. Angl . 13. 
Crocus vernus, Wulfen. 
Ixia vernalis, Salisb. Prod. 
Crocus vernus /2, Gawler Bot. Mag. 2860. 
Purple spring saffron. Purple crocus . 
Fields ; perennial ; March and April. 
Flowers blue, white or violet. 
b. Lobes of the style truncated , erose or toothed ; spathe 
c 2-leafed; tube of the perigonium bald; flowers autumnal , 
before the leaves , yellowish . 
2. Crocus sativus . Cultivated saffron . 
Lobes of the style reflexed, longer than the lobes of the 
perigonium ; tube longer than the limb. 
Crocus, Ran Syn. 374, 1 ; Ger. em. 151. 
Crocus verus sativus autumnalis, Park. Par. 167. 
Crocus sativus officinalis, Lin. S . P. 50. 
Crocus setifolius, Stokes Bot. Mat. Med. 104^. 
Crocus officinalis, Engl. Bot. 343. 
Ixia autumnalis, Salisb. Prod. 33. 
Saffron. True saffron. 
