204 LANGUAGE OF FLOWERS. 
MEADOW SAFFRON. 
MY BEST DAYS ARE PAST. 
When the leaves begin to fall from the trees, a 
flower resembling the crocus springs up amidst the 
grass of the damp meadows : but, instead of being, 
like a crocus, the harbinger of joy and hope, it pro- 
claims to all Nature that the bright days of summer 
are over. This flower is the Meadow Saffron, or 
Colchicum autumnalc, supposed to be so named 
from Colchis, in Asia, where it is said to grow in 
abundance. 
According to fabulous history, this autumnal 
flower owes its origin to some drops of the magic 
liquor, prepared by Medea to restore the aged ^Eson 
to the bloom and vigor of youth, which were spilt 
in the fields. 
The foaming juices now the brink o'erswell : 
The barren heath, where'er the liquor fell 
Sprang out with vernal grass, and all the pride 
Of blooming May. 
Tate's Ovid. 
