C R 1 
water, but it muft Hot be given them too plentifully^ 
efpecialiy in winter. Theie forts flower at every fea- 
fon of the year, which renders them more valuable •, 
for where there are many plants, there will be almoft 
a perpetual fucceffion of flowers, which emit a very 
agreeable odour. 
C R I T H M U M. Lin. Gen. Plant. 303. Tourn. life* 
II. H. 317. tab. 169. Samphire. 
The Characters are, 
It is a 'plant with an umbelliferous flower ; the great um- 
bel is beniifphericdl , and compofed of many fmaller of the 
fame figure , the involucrum of the general umbel is com - 
p 6 fed of fever al fpear -floated leaves ■, thofe of the parti- 
cular umbels have very narrow leaves the length of the 
umbel \ the general umbel is uniform the flowers have 
five oval infixed petals , which are almofl equal-, they 
have five ftamina the length of the petals , which are ter- 
minated by roundijh fummits. The germen is fituated un- 
der the flower , fupporting two reflexed ftyles , crowned by 
oMufe fligmas. The germen afterward becomes an oval 
coinpreffed fruit , dividing into two parts, each hawing one 
comprejfied , elliptical , furrowed feed. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the fecond feeftion 
of Linnaeus’s fifth clafs, intitled Pentandria Digynia, 
the flowers having five ftamina and two ftyles. 
The Species are, 
1. Crithmum ( Maritimum ) foliolis lanceolatis carnofis. 
Hort. Cliff. 98. Samphire with fpear-Jhaped flejhy leaves. 
Crithmum five Foeniculum maritimum minus. C.B.P. 
288. Samphire. 
2. Crithmum [Pyrenaicum ) foliolis lateralibus bis trifi- 
dis. Hort. Cliff. 98. Samphire whofe fmaller leaves on 
their fides are doubly trifid. Apium Pyrenaicum thap- 
ficas facie. Tourn. Inft. 305. 
The firft fort grows upon the rocks by the fea-fide, 
in many parts of England. This hath a root com- 
pofed of many ftrong fibres, which penetrate deep 
into the crevices of the rocks, fending up feveral 
fielhy fucculent (talks, which rife about two feet high, 
garnifhed with winged leaves, which are compofed of 
three or five divifions, each of which hath three or 
five final 1, thick, fuceulent leaves near half an inch 
long ; the foot-ftalks of the leaves embrace the ftalks 
at their bafe. The flowers are produced in circular 
umbels at the top of the ftalks ; thefe are of a yellow 
colour, compofed of five petals, which are near 
equal in fize, and are afterward fucceeded by feeds 
fomewhat like thofe of Fennel, but are larger. This 
herb is pickled, and efteemed very comfortable to 
the ftomach, and is very agreeable to the palate ; it 
provokes urine gently, removes the obftructions of 
the vifeera, and creates an appetite ; it is commonly 
ufed for fauce it is gathered on the rocks where it 
grows naturally, but the people who fupply the mar- 
kets with it, feldom bring the right herb, but inftead 
of it they bring a fpecies of After, which is called 
golden Samphire, but hath a very different flavour 
from the true, nor has it any of its virtues. This 
grows in greater plenty, and upon the plain ground 
which is overflowed by the fait water ; whereas, the 
true Samphire grows only out of the crevices of per- 
pendicular rocks, where it is very difficult to come at. 
. It flowers in July, and the feeds ripen in autumn. 
This plant is with difficulty propagated in gardens, 
nor will it grow fo vigorous with any culture, as it 
does upon rocks ; but if the plants are planted on a 
moift gravelly foil, they will thrive tolerably well, and 
may be preferved fome years. It may be propagated 
either by feeds or parting the roots. 
The fecond fort is by Tournefort ranged in his ge- 
nus of Apium. This grows naturally on the Pyrenean 
mountains. It is a biennial plant, which doth not 
flower till the fecond year, and perifhes foon after the 
feeds are ripe. There are two or three forts of this 
plant, which differ in their outer appearance, but I 
am not certain of their being diftinet fpecies. One of 
thefe is titled by Mr. Ray, Apium montanurn five 
petrseum alburn. This is of humbler growth than 
tlie other ; the final! leaves are broader, and not fo 
much cut on their edges, and are of a paler green : 
C R O 
thefe plants are preferved in a few gardens for the fakti 
of variety y they are propagated by feeds, which 
ftiould be fown in the autumn where they are design- 
ed to remain, and will require no other culture but 
to keep them clean from weeds* and thin them where 
they are too clofe. 
CRISTA GALL I. See Pedicularis. 
CRISTA PAY ON IS. See Poinciana. 
CROCUS. Lin. Gen. Plant. 53. Tourn. Inft. R. H. 
350. tab. 183, 184. [is fo called of the youth Crocus, 
who (as the poets feign) loved Smilax with fo violent 
a paflion, that, by reafon of impatience, he was turned 
into a flower of his name.] Saffron. 
The Characters are. 
It hath a flpatha or Jheath of one leaf. The flower hath 
one petal , which is deeply cut into flk oblong fegments , 
which are equal. It hath three ftamina which are fhorter 
than the petal , terminated by arrow-pointed fummits. The - 
roundijh germen is fituated at the bottom of the tube , fup- 
porting a fender flyle , crowned by three twifted fligmas, 
which are flawed. The germen afterward becomes a round- 
ijh fruit, with three cells, filled with roundijh feeds. 
This genus of plants is ranged in the firft fedion of 
Linnaeus’s third clafs, intitled Triandria Monogynia, 
the flower having three ftamina and one ftyle. 
The Species are, 
1. Crocus ( Sativus ) fpatha univalvi radicali, corolla: 
tubo longiffimo. Lin. Sp. Plant. 36. Saffron with a 
fpatha near the root , having one valve , and a long tube 
to the flower. Crocus fativus. C. B. P. 65. Cultivated 
Saffron. 
2. Crocus (. Autumnalis ) fpatha univalvi pedunculato, 
corollas tubo breviffimo. Saffron with a fpatha on the 
foot-ftalk , having one valve, and a very Jhort tube to the. 
flower. Crocus juncifolius autumnalis, flore magno 
purpurafeente. Boerh. Ind. alt. 2. 120. 
3. Crocus [Verms') fpatha bivalvi radicali, floribus fef- 
fllibus. Crocus with a bivalve fpatha near the root, and 
flowers fitting clofe to the ground. Crocus vernus latifo- 
liusy flavo flore varius. C. B. P. 66. Commonly- called 
Bifhofs Crocus. 
4. Crocus ( Biflora ) fpatha biflora corolls tubo tenu- 
iflimo. Crocus with two flowers in each fpatha, having 
very narrow tubes. Crocus vernus, ftriatus, vulgaris. 
Par. Bat. Ordinary, fpring, ftriped Crocus. 
There are a much greater variety of thefe flowers 
than are here enumerated ; but as moft, if not all of 
them are only feminal variations, I thought it would be 
needlefs to particularize them here, efpecially as there 
are frequently new varieties obtained from feeds. 
Thofe which are here enumerated, I think muft be al- 
lowed to be fpecifically different, fince they have 
many diftinguifhing charaders, which are fufficient 
to determine the lpecific difference in plants. 
The firft fort is the plant which produces the Saffron, 
which is a well known drug : this hath a roundifh 
bulbous root as large as a fmall Nutmeg, which is a 
little compreffed at the bottom, and is covered with 
a coarfe, brown, netted (kin ; from the bottom of this 
bulb is fent out many long fibres, which ftrike pretty 
deep into the ground ; from the upper part of the 
root come out the flowers, which, together with the 
young leaves, whofe tops juft appear, are clofelv 
wrapped about by a thin fpatha or (heath, which parts 
within the ground, and opens on one fide. The tube 
of the flower is very long, arifing immediately from 
the bulb, without any foot-ftalk, and at the top is 
divided into fix oval obtufe fegments, which are 
equal, of a purple blue colour. In the bottom of 
the tube is fituated a roundiffi germen, flupporting a 
(lender ftyle, which is not more than half the length 
of the petal, crowned with three oblong golden dig- 
mas (which is the Saffron -,) thefe fpread afunder each 
way. The ftyle is attended by three ftamina, whofe 
bales are inferted in the tube of the petal, and rife to 
the height of the ftyle, where they are terminated by 
arrow-pointed fummits. This plant flowers in Octo- 
ber, a,nd the leaves keep growing all. the winter, but 
it never produces any feeds here. 
The 
