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whitish fibres; it has a singular smell, somewhat like that of anise: 

 the leaves are obovale-oblong, about a hand's-breadlh in length, 

 nearly upright, tapering to tlie base, l)lunt, veiny, Avrinkled, smooth 

 above, hirsute beneath, rolled back at the edge when young, slightly 

 waved, unequally notched, the midrib whitish, terminating in afoot- 

 stalk of a reddish colour, channelled on one side and keeled on the 

 other: the scapes or peduncles numerous, the length of the leaves, 

 upright, round, hirsute, pale green, having awl-shaped bractes at the 

 base, after the flowering is over bending back: the flowers upright, 

 large, sweet-scented: the corolla is of a pale sulphur colour; each of 

 the five clefts obcordate, and marked at the base with a spot of a 

 much deeper yellow: the mouth has a faint rim round it. The 

 flower of the wild Primrose is a pale brimstone colour; but in some 

 places it is found of a purple hue. 



The varieties are numerous, being partly Avild and partly pro- 

 duced by cultivation. Tlie principal of which are: the Common 

 Yellow-flowered: the White: the Paper-white: the Red: the Double 

 Yellow : the Double White: the Double Red : the Double Pink : 

 the Double Crimson Primrose. It is a native of most parts of 

 Europe, flowering in March and April with the Wood Anemone. 



It is observed, that a fine flower of this sort sliould possess a 



graceful elegance of form, a richness of colouring, and a perfect 



symmetry of parts. The properties are mostly similar to those 



which distinguish the Auricula, in what relates to the stem or scape, 



the peduncles or flower-stalks, and the formation of the umbel, bunch 



or thyrse, vulgarly termed the truss: the tube of the corolla above 



the calyx should be short, well filled at the mouth with the anthers, 



and fluted termination rather above the eye: the eye should be 



round, of a bright clear yellow, and distinct from the ground colour; 



the ground colour is most admired when shaded with a light and 



dark rich crimson, resembling velvet, with one mark or stripe in the 



centre of each division of the border, bold and distinct from the 



edging down to the eye, where it should terminate in a fine point: 



the petals, technically termed the pips, should be large, quite flat, 



and perfectly circular, excepting the small indentures between each 



