158 
Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 
Li 
B. !. 
The Dcfcription. 
i X TTEdow Saffron hath three or fottre leaues riftng immediately forth of the ground, 
VI long broad, fmooth, fat, much like to the leaues of the white Lilly in forme and 
v fmoothnelfe • in the middle whereof fpringvp three or foure thicke cods of the big- 
nefle of a fmall Wall-nut, (landing vpon fhort tender foot-ftalkes three fquare, and opening thein- 
felues when they be ripe, full offeedfomething round afld of a blackiih red colour .-and when 
this feed is ripe, the leaues together with the ftalkes doe fade and fall away In September the 
floures bud forth, before any leaues appeare,flandingvpon fhort tender and whitifh (femmes, like 
in forme and colour to the floures of Saffron, hauing in the middle fmall chiues or threads of a 
pale yellow colour, altogether vnfit for meat or medicine. The toot is round or bulbous, (harper 
at the one end than at the other, flat on the one fide, hauing a deepe clift or furrow in the fame flat 
fide when it floureth, and not at any time elfe : it is coined with blackifli coats or filmes •, it fen- 
deth downevnto the loweft part certaine firings or threds The root it felfe is full ofa white fub- 
llance yeeldinga iuyee like milke,whileft it is greenc and newly digged out of the earth. It is in 
tafte fweet, with a little bitternelTe following, which draweth water out of the mouth. 
3 Colchiam Pdmonicum florens & fineflore. 
Hungary medc Saffron with and without Flourc. 
2 The fecond kindc of Mede Saffron is like the precedent, differing onely in the co our of 
the floures, for that this plant doth bring forth white leaues, which of fome hath beene taken lor 
the true Herdfaffylus - but in fo doing they haue committed the greater error. 
; Thcfe two figures expreffe both but one and the felfe fame plant, which is diftinguifhed 
bccaufe it r.euerbeareth floures and leaues both at one time. So that the firft figure lets it forth 
when it is in leaues and feed, and the other when it floureth ; and therefore one description ibatl 
fuffice for them both . In the Spring ofthe yeare it bringeth forth his leaues, thicke, fat ihming, 
and fmooth, not vnl ike the leaues of Lillies, which do continue greene vnto the end of lune^at 
which time the leaues do wither away ,but in thebeginningof September there fhoorc t l ort t ° 
the ground naked milke wljite floures without any greene leafe at all : but fo foone as t te ant 
hath done bearing of floures, the root remaines in the ground, not fending forth any thing vnn 
Febrtiarie in the yearc following. 
