132 TRE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOM^ERS 
their numerous small white blossoms, to the beauty of the 
vernal landscape. The wild crocus is more frequently of 
a yellow than any other colour; but the fields of purple 
crocuses (Crocus nudifiorus) are those alluded to in the 
verse placed at the head of the chapter. It is the same 
species as that vrhich grows on the Alps; and at Friuli 
it is very abundant, and grows quite near the sea. It is 
plentiful in the neighbourhood of Nottingham, and may 
be found occasionally in several parts of England; but it 
is in the vicinity of that town that it is seen to most 
advantage. There the lands which it adorns are like 
radiant spots, compared with which the other meadows 
seem almost colourless. Its full-blown cups stand open 
to invite the spring butterfly to his regale, or the diligent 
bee to add to the store which he is gathering for others. 
Not one little upland or dell of these meadows but is 
covered with the daisy and the crocus. Every hedge 
violet that there expands, seems of a darker hue by its 
contrast; and never does cowslip or primrose better merit 
its long-worn epithet of pale, than when either the sunny 
or blue crocus stands beside it. 
In Greece the same floral beauty is very frequent, cover- 
ing the sides of the mountains with one sheet of blue or 
gold. In the few British scenes which it enriches, it is 
probably not truly wild, but having been cast from some 
garden, and found a soil peculiarly favourable to it, has 
flourished and extended itself around the spot on which it 
first took root. 
Four species of ciocus have been thus naturalised; and 
the saffron crocus is cultivated in fields. It is planted in 
the suburbs of Saffron Walden, in Cambridgeshire, having 
given its name to this town, from its culture in the neigh- 
bourhood, as earh- as the reign of Edward III. 
Saffron was formerly more highly esteemed, and applied 
to more purposes than at present. It was once a consider- 
able object of culture in various parts of England, par- 
ticularly in the counties of Hereford and Suffolk. It is 
made of the stamens of the crocus, which require to be 
gathered early in the day, while the sun’s rays are power- 
ful. The people employed in procuring it gather the 
flower in baskets, and, carrying it to their homes, pick 
out the threads which are in the centre of the blossom. 
