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BRITISH WILD FLOATERS. 
GENUS III. 
THE CROCUS. (Crocus, Lin.) 
Lin. Syst. TRIANDRIA MONOGYNIA. 
Generic Character. —Perianthium with a slender tube twice as long as the limb. Limb six-parted, equal, inflated, erect. Stigmas three, 
convolute, many-lobed. ( Lindley .) 
Description, &c. —Notwithstanding the great number of Crocuses cultivated in our gardens, only three or 
four are natives of Great Britain. The name of Crocus is from a Chaldean word signifying the plant. The 
genus is in the same Linneean class and order as the last. 
1.—THE SAFFRON. (Crocus sativus, Lin.) 
Svnonymes. —C. officinalis, Hudson ; C. autumnalis, Smith. Specific Charactf.r. —Stigma prominent, laterally in three deep, 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot., t. 46 ; 2nd ed., t. 43 ; and our Jig. 3, in linear, notched segments. {Lindley.) 
Pi. 54. 
Description, &c. —The Saffron is distinguished from the common Autumn Crocus by its stigma, which is 
very large and three-cleft, hanging out on one side of the flower. This stigma, when dried, is the Saffron 
It is only found wild in England in the North, and at Saffron Walden, where it is largely cultivated. 
2.— THE SMALL YELLOAY CROCUS. (Crocus aureus, Lin.) 
Synonyme. — C. luteus, Lindley. I Specific Character.— Stamens spreading. Stigma small, below 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot. Supp., t. 2646 ; 2nd ed., t. 44* ; and | the tops of the anthers. Coats of the root elongated, stiff, membranous, 
our fig. 4, in PI. 54. I becoming ragged. 
Description, &c. —A pretty little plant with golden-yellow flowers, which is supposed not to be a true 
native, but is found growing apparently wild in Sir H. Bunbury’s park at Barton Hall, in Suffolk, along with 
C. prcecox , both flowering in March. 
3.— THE EARLY PURPLE CROCUS. (Crocus prjecox, Lin.) 
Synonymfs. —C. reticulatus, Smith ; C. minimus, Curtis ; annu¬ 
lar-rooted Crocus. 
Engravings. —Eng. Bot. Supp., t. 2645 ; 2nd ed., t. 44** ; and 
our fig. 5, in PI. 54. 
Specific Character. —Stigma above the anthers. Segments of the 
flower of equal length. Root-coats coriaceous, short, dividing into 
rings at the base. {Smith.) 
Description, &c. —This pretty little plant has been only found wild in Sir II. Bunbury’s park. It is 
easily distinguished from all the other species by its bulbs or corms. “ The root-coats,” says Sowerby, “ are of 
a peculiar subcoriaceous texture, wholly free from fibres; the rings into which they divide at the base are 
perfectly regular, and very neat.” The flowers are small, but very pretty. 
THE PURPLE SPRING CROCUS. (C. vernus, Willd.) 
This very handsome Crocus grows wild near Nottingham, where the meadows are covered with it. It is 
supposed to be a true native. It is a perennial, and flowers in March, about a fortnight later than the early 
Crocus. 
THE AUTUMN CROCUS. (C. nudifeorus, Smith.) 
This plant always sends up its flowers before its leaves, and thus presents the singular appearance of naked 
flowers growing out of the ground without either stems or leaves. The leaves do not appear till the segments 
of the flowers have fallen, but they remain above ground till the seed is ripe. 
