2645
C R O C U S præcox.
Small annular-rooted Crocus.
TRIANDR IA Monogynia.
Gen. Char. Cor. in 6 divisions, regular. Stigmas
convoluted.
Spec. Char. Segments of the flower of equal length,
with root-coats dividing at the base into neatly
rounded narrow symmetrical rings.
Syn. Crocus argenteus. Tab. in Hort. Soc. Lond.
Trans, v. 7. 431.—and argenteus praecox, t. 11,
12. Jig. 5.—and 438 inedit.
C. reticulatus. Smith Eng. FI. v. 4. 263. with
synonyms much confused.
_A_B0UT the middle of March 1830 (although a very
backward season), living specimens in bloom of this small
Crocus, along with others figured on our next Plate, were
sent us by Mr. Hodson, of Bury St. Edmund’s. They
were found growing and even seeding plentifully together,
but, as he assures us, without any other varieties or species
among them, under shading oaks in Sir H. Bunbury’s park,
at Barton Hall, Suffolk, and in a perfect state of wild nature.
Nevertheless we humbly venture to presume they are
merely the outcasts of ancient gardens, although it cannot
now be traced ; because it is not by any means likely that
bulbous plants, known to belong to Asia Minor and the
warmest parts of Europe, should also occur spontaneously
in our cold and northern climate. Yet still it is proper they
should be represented in our Supplement to the native plants
of our British Isles, duly accompanied by the above remarks:
for, as Dr. Berkenhout on a similar occasion well observed,
“ if they are not ancient Britons, they are Britons nevertheless
and so, and as such only, we give them.
Sir James Smith in his English Flora, as above cited,