THK SAFFRON CROCES.
073
Order 14. Irida'ce^e, Lindl. —The Cornflag Tribe.
IRIDE&, Juss.
Essential Characters. — Calysc and corolla superior, confounded, tlieir divisionsJ^Rher partially cohering?, or entirely separate, sometimes irregular, the three petalsemg sometimes very short. Stamens three, arising from the base of the sepals;filaments distinct or connate ; anthers bursting externally lengthwise, fixed by their‘* s e, two-celled. Ovary three-celled, cells many-seeded; style one; stigmas three,[‘ten petaloid, sometimes two-lipped. Capsule three-celled, three-valved, with a0c ulicidal dehiscence. Seeds attached to the inner angle of the cell, sometimes to aCentral column, becoming loose; albumen corneous, or densely fleshy; embryo en-closed within it.— Herbaceous plants, or very seldom under-shrubs, usually smooth;,' le hairs, if any, simple. Roots tuberous or fibrous. Leaves equitant, distichous'n most genera. Inflorescence terminal, in spikes, corymbs, or panicles, or crowded.Cruets spathaceous, the partial ones often scarious; the sepals occasionally rather
p "orbaceous ( Lindley ).
operties. —The underground stems and roots usually abound in fccula and muci-ia !fe ; but these nutritive substances are generally combined with an acrid principle,chtch excludes their employment as articles of food. However, Moreea edulis,j • sisyrinchium, Gladiolus edulis, and a species of Tigrulia, have been used as escu-c. n t substances. The rhizomes of several species of Iris (as I. Pseud-acorus, I. germa-* ic o, I. sibirica, and 1. versicolor) are remarkable, especially in the fresh state, for.cir acridity, in consequence of which some of them have been used as purgatives,s, alog 0 gues, or errhines, or for issue-peas. The rhizomes of some species (as I flo-tf *tina and I. germanica) have an agreeable smell. The colour and the odour ofpffron are to be regarded as part of the petaloid qualities of the stigmata of Crocus-. ce effects of this medicine on the nervous system are regarded by Decandolle'■“■Mai sur les ProprUtes Med.) as similar to those of [certain odorous] flowers.
Crocus sati'vus, Allioni, L.E.D .—The Saffron Crocus.
Sex. Syst. Triandria, Monogynia.
(Stigmata exsiccata, L. Stigmata, E. D.)
^Iistory.—S affron is mentioned in the Old Testament (Solomon'su! 1 !/, iv. 14). Homer (Iliad , xiv. 346) speaks of the Crocus (epdeor).
I|„. , - v ,-, ,- - . .
K PPoeratcs (Opera, Ed. Foes. pp. 407, 575,614, 626, and 876) employed,. fc r °n in uterine and other maladies. The word Saffron (zafaran, Avi-p la ) is of Arabic origin.
H, :°Tany. Gen. Char. — Perianth [coloured], with a slender tube twiceL ° n g as the limb ; limb six-partite, equal, erect. [ Stamens three,into the tube ; anthers sagittate.] Stigmas three, thick, convo-> generally crested. Capsule under ground, elevated by a shortA^ncle from the root, which peduncle elongates after the decay of theqh. er s, and the capsules appear above ground. (Hooker, with some* Uons -)
-Stigma protruded, drooping, in three deep linear divisions.
A
[b‘‘- CllAR.-yker.)
^rnus roundish; its brownish coats reticulated, separating superiorly^ distinct parallel fibres. Leaves linear, with a white central stripe,Li Su wounded at tlieir base with long membranous sheaths. Flowerstor P ur ple, shorter than the leaves, with a two-valved membranous.?e. Anthers pale yellow. Stigmas deep orange-coloured.