AN ENCYCLOPADIA 
OF HORTICULTURE. 217 
Priestleya—continued. 
villosa (villous), fl. capitate. June and July. Z ovate- 
elliptic, acute, one-nerved, flat, and, as well as the branchlets, 
a My pods, hairy on both surfaces. h. 2ft. to 4ft. 1774. 
(B. M. 3216.) 
PRIMORDIAL. First in order of appearance. The 
term is usually applied to first leaves. 
PRIMROSE. See Primula vulgaris. The name 
was also formerly used for Privet. 
PRIMROSE, CAPE. See Streptocarpus. 
PRIMROSE, EVENING. See Gnothera biennis. 
PRIMULA (from primus, first; referring to the 
early flowering). Primrose. ORD. Primulaceœ. A genus 
comprising from seventy to eighty species of mostly 
hardy, alpine, perennial, rhizomatous herbs, natives of 
Europe and temperate Asia, a few American, one or two 
found in the mountains of Java, and one in the frigid 
region of South America. Flowers white, pink, purple, or 
yellow, umbellately or verticillately racemose, very rarely 
solitary, involucral-bracted, ebracteolate; calyx tubular, 
funnel-shaped, or campanulate, often inflated or angular, 
with five persistent lobes; corolla hypogynous, infundi- 
buliform or hypocrateriform, with a short or elongated 
tube, and . limb of five flat or concave, spreading or 
incurved, bricated lobes. Leaves all radical, usually 
obovate-spathulate, rarely orbicular and long-stalked, 
entire, toothed, or rarely lobed. The various beautiful 
Auriculas have been derived from P. Auricula. Five 
of the species are natives of Britain, and include the ~ 
well-known common Primrose (P. vulgaris), Cowslip 
(P. officinalis), and Oxlip (P. elatior), of our meadows 
and woods. The species described in the following pages 
are hardy, except where otherwise stated. 
Primulas are charming and exceedingly useful plants, © 
adapted collectively for various decorative purposes and 
positions under glass, and also in the open air. In them 
are represented great diversity of habits and growth, 
some being very dwarf and slow growing, while others 
develop and fiower as large plants in a comparatively 
short time.. Many of the hardy species are excellent 
subjects for sunny positions on rockwork; but some that 
are rare should receive special attention, or be kept in 
pots in a cold frame. 
successfully grown in pots, if kept in the proper positions 
and temperatures which the several species and varieties 
require. The hardy ones may be kept in cold pits or 
frames throughout the summer, such as those with a 
north aspect; in winter, they must also be kept cool, and 
allowed to rest. Damp is one of the greatest enemies 
to hardy Primulas in winter, but still their roots must 
never be allowed to become too dry. All the small 
alpine species and their varieties should have their 
crowns kept well above the soil, and be maintained in 
position by placing pieces of sandstone on either side. 
This provision against damping applies to those grown 
in pots, in the open border, or on rockwork: it is always 
advisable to support the—in many instances, tiny—plants 
in this way. Varieties of the hardy Primrose are well 
adapted for naturalising in woods or shady places along 
with the common sort. A quantity of plants for this 
purpose may readily be raised from seed, a good strain 
of which should be secured. 
Propagation of the species of Primula is most generally 
effected by seeds. The varieties of any section seldom 
reproduce themselves true from seed, and these have 
therefore to be 
rare species when seeds are not procurable, 
amongst 
and also more frequently amongst others that are com- 
moner. Seeds of the hardy species are best sown, soon — 
iter Sher nio sipe I sheik Te ee ee 
seeds should be thinly covered, and the pots placed 
in a cold frame, and kept shaded. When the 
Vol — 
Primulas of any description may be , 
ted by cuttings or divisions. — 
Careful division ptusetiones nikdo: —— i 
Primula— continued. 
lings appear, they should be placed near the glass, 
and, in due course, pricked out, or inserted singly in 
small pots of soil similar to that in which the seeds 
were sown. 
P. japonica, one of the finest, strong-growing species, 
succeeds well in pots for greenhouse decoration, and also 
when planted on rockwork or in the open border. The 
seeds of this species should be sown when ripe, and the 
plants, when raised, grown on to flower the second 
spring following. As they are very vigorous, rich soil 
and rather large pots should be provided for them after 
the first winter has passed. If the flowers appear on 
plants within a year after the seed has been sown, it is 
not so desirable as when they can be kept back until 
starting time, after two winters have passed. P. japonica 
never requires any fire-heat; all the leaves die down in 
winter, when the pots may be stored in a cold frame, and 
kept moderately, but not quite, dry. P. obconica, a pretty 
and very popular plant, is best adapted for pot culture ; 
it flowers, more or less, in a cool greenhouse or conserva- 
tory, nearly all the year. Propagated, in spring, by care- 
fully-made divisions, and by seeds. Another Primula 
well suited for pot culture in greenhouses is P. cor- 
tusoides Sieboldit, of which there are several beautiful 
varieties, all worthy of more extended culture than they 
at present receive. 
Perhaps the best-known Primula is that which is very 
generally and extensively cultivated for greenhouse and — 
room decoration from autumn till late in spring, namely, 
the Chinese Primrose (P. sinensis). Of this beautiful - 
and popular species, there are single and double varie- 
ties, but plants of the former kind are more easily grown, 
and more frequently seen in gardens, than are those 
of the latter. These Primulas are always most accept- 
able in winter, when their bright and cheerful flowers 
appear to best advantage, and suggest the return of 
spring; at the latter season, however, the plants attain 
their greatest degree of perfection. To keep a succession 
of the single ones in flower, the first portion of seed 
should be sown in March, for growing plants in prepara- 
tion for the ensuing autumn, and other sowings should 
be made in April, May, and June. Shallow pans are 
best for the seed; they should be well drained, and filled 
with light soil, composed chiefly of leaf mould, with a 
little loam and sand. The surface may be slightly pressed, 
to make it even, and the seeds must only be very lightly 
covered ; the pans should then be placed in a warm frame 
or Pit, and kept shaded. A pane of glass, laid over the 
top of each pan, will prevent rapid evaporation, and 
watering need not then be practised until ger- 
mination takes place. The young plants should be left in 
the seed-pans or pots until ready to pot off singly, unless 
any of them show signs of damping, in which case they 
are best pricked off at once in new soil, about lin. apart, — | 
and kept shaded for a few days. In about a fortnight, a 
cold frame will be the most suitable place, as the plants 
must be kept near the light, and have plenty of air while 
growing, to insure what is most essential—a compact, 
sturdy habit. As the soil in small pots becomes filled 
with roots, shift on into others 5in. in diameter, a size 
sufficiently large for Chinese Primulas to flower in. For 
the final potting, an open and rather rich soil is neces- 
sary, consisting of two parts loam to one each of well- 
decayed manure and leaf mould, a little charcoal or sand 
being added to insure porosity. The pots should be 
—— well drained, and perfectly dry when used. Venti- 
on, watering, and shading, are the principal points 
— attention in the general management. Through- 
out the summer, a slight shading, or screen from the — 
sun's rays, is necessary through the hottest part of the 
day: a thick or continuous shading is more injurious 
than beneficial. Liberal supplies of water are —— ; 
in summer; but towards autumn, and in the winter,’ it 
2 F 
