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Show Ofthe Hiftorie of Planes. 158 Liz. a. Gg The Defcription, EdowSaffron hath three or foure leaues rifing immediately SEONG ground, long, broad, fmooth, fat, muchlike tothe leaues of the white Lilly : forme and fmoothnefle: inthe middle whereof {pring vp three or foure thic ke cods of the big. nefle ofa {mall Wall-nut,ftanding vpon fhort tender foot-ftalkes three {quare,andof ening then felues whenthey be ripe, full of feed fomething round, and of a blackith red colour: and tyhen this feedis ripe, the leaues togetherwith the ftalkes doe fade and fall away. In Septemberthe floures bud forth, before any Jeaues appeare,ftanding vponfhort tender andwhitith ftemmes,like in forme and colour to the floures of Saffron, hauing in the middle fmall chiues or threads of a pale yellowcolour, altogether vnfit for meat or medicine. The rost Is round or bulbou s {harper attheoneend thanat the other, flat on the onefide, hauing a deepe clift or furrowin the fame flat fide whenit floureth, andnot at any time elfe : itis couered with black ith coats or fi Imes 5 it fendeth downevntothe loweft part certaine ftrings orthreds, The rootit felfe is full ofa white fubftance, yeelding a juycelike milke, whileft itis greene and newly digged out of the earth, Itisin tafte fweet, witha little bitterneffe following, whichdrawethwater out of the mouth. Lis. 1. Of the Hiftorie of Plants. 159 + Itbeares plentifull tore ofreddithfeed in loofe triangular heads, The root hereofis bigger than that ofthe laftdefcribed. + t 4 The fmallmedowSaffron hath three or foure thicke fat Ieaues narrowe r than any of the reft. The floure appearethinthe fall ofthe leafe,in fhape,colour,a nd manner ofgrowing like the common mede Saffron, but ofamore reddith purple colour, and altogetherleffer. The leaves in this, contrarie to the nature ofthefe plants, prefently followaf ter the floure, and fo continue all the Winterand Spring, euen vatill May orIune, Therootis bulbous , and not great; it isco- uered with many blackith red coats, and is white within. i + 5 ThismedowSaffron hathrootsandleaueslike to thofe ofthe lat deferib ed , but the feaues ofthe floureare longer and narrower, and the colour ofthemis white on on the middle of the backe part, and the reft thereofofa certaine flefh colour, the infide,greene t 4, Colchicum montanum minus Hifpanicum cumflore ce femine. Small Spanith medow Saffron in floure andfeed, 3 Colchicum Pannonicumflorens e fineflore, Hungary medeSaffron with and without Floure. $ SN LY ' y a j y 6 ThemedowSaffron ofIllyria hatha great thicke and bulbous root, full offabftance:from 2_ The fecond kinde of Mede Saffronis like the precedent, differing onely in the colour of the floures,for that this plant doth bring forth white Ieaues, whichof fome hath beene taken fot the true Hermedaétyls >; but in {o doing they haue committed the greatererr or. 3 Thefetwofigures expreffe both but oneand thefelfe fame plant, whichis diftinguifhed becaufe it never beareth floures and leaues both at one time. So that the firtt figurefets it fort whenit isin leaues and feed, and the other whenit floureth ; and therefore one defeription thal fuffice forthem both. Inthe Spring ofthe yeare it bringethforth his leaues, thicke,fat, fhining, and fmooth, not vnlike the leaues ofLillies, which do continue greene vnto the end of June; 4 whichtime the leaues‘do wither away,but in the beginning of September there fhooreth forth o the ground naked milke white floures withoutanygreeneleafe at all: but fo foone as the Plant hath donebearing offloures, the rootremaines in the ground , not fending forth any thing vatt Februaric in the yeare following, tt which rifeth vpafat, thicke, and groffe ftalke, ferabout from the lower part to the top byequal] diftances, with long, thicke, and groffe leaues, fharpe pointed,not vnlike tothe leaues ofleekes ; among whichleaues do growyellowith floures like vnto the Englifh medow Saffion,but fmaller, 7__ The Affyrian medowSaffron hath a bulbousroot, madeasit were oftwo pieces ; from the middle cleft whereofrifeth vp afoft and tenderftalke fet withfaire broad leaves ftom the middle to the top :among which commethforth one fingle floure like vnto the common medowSaffron, orthewhite Anemone ofMatthiolus defcription. 8 The mountaine wilde Saffron js a bafe and low plant,but in fhape altogetherlike the common medowSaffron, but much leffer, The flouresare fmaller, and ofa yellowcolour, whieh fetteth forth the difference. + The leaues and roots (as Clufius affirmes) are more like to rhe Narcit- fes , and therefore he calls this Narciffas Autumnalis minor, The lefler Autumne Narciffe. + = 9 Thiswhofe figure wehere giue you,is by C/ufius called Colchicum Byxantinum latifolinm, Thebroad leaued Colchicum of Conftantinople. The leaues ofthis are not in forme and magni- tude muchvnlike to thofe of the white Hellebor, neither leffe neruous, yet more greene. It beares many noures in Autumne, fo that there come fometimes twenty fromone root, Their forme and colour are much like the ordinarie fort, bur that thefe are larger, and haue thicker ftalkes. They are |
