THE LADIES* MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
77 
flower of the species, the bulb is remarkably large. Some of the varieties 
are very handsome; as for example C. v. purpureus , the common 
purple. 
C. biflorus , the Scotch Crocus, and C. susianus , the Cloth of Gold, are 
those that flower earliest in the season. They are both natives of the 
Crimea, and were introduced above two hundred years ago. The large 
yellow Crocus, C. luteus , is also a native of the Levant, whence it was 
sent before 1620, as a present to Henrietta, Queen of Charles I.; this 
unfortunate lady having been remarkably fond of flowers. This, the 
large cream-coloured, and the dark purple varieties of C. vernus , are the 
latest of the spring-flowering Crocuses, and the effect which they produce, 
when planted near together, is very striking. 
The principal autumnal Crocus is that which produces the saffron, 
C. sativus , the drug being the dried stigma of the flower. This species is 
always easily to be distinguished from all the other kinds, by the stigma 
hanging out of the side of the flower. Of the other autumnal Crocuses 
C. speciosus , or nudijiorus , is by far the handsomest. It is a British 
species, and it flowers in October, without the leaves, which do not appear 
till the flowers have withered. 
All Crocuses succeed best in a rather dry and poor soil; as, if the soil 
be moist and rich, they will produce offsets rather than flowers. The 
leaves ought to be left on all the kinds till they wither naturally, as it is 
only by means of the leaves that the plant can mature the new bulb 
which forms in the place of the old one every year. Crocuses do not 
flower well if they are removed too often, and they should not be 
disturbed oftener than once in three or four years. 
SKETCHES OF NATURAL HISTORY. 
BY MR. MAIN. 
SPIDERS VERSUS FLIES. 
There is no tribe of insects more vigilant in taking their prey, or more 
curious in their economy, than the genus Aranea , or spiders. They are 
found in every part of the world, but are most numerous in warm 
latitudes, and most active everywhere in summer, or when the weather 
is warm. Extreme cold renders them torpid; in which state those that 
live longer than one year pass the winter. 
