CHAP. I.] PRTMULACE^. 417 



they have scarcely any filaments, being affixed 

 to the corolla in the centre of the lobes, instead 

 of being alternate to them, and by the capsule, 

 though five or ten ribbed, being only one-celled, 

 with a central placenta, to which the seeds are 

 attached. The calyx remains on the ripe fruit. 

 In the genus Primula (the Primrose), the calyx 

 is tubular, and strongly marked with five dis- 

 tinct angles, which end in as many teeth ; and 

 the corolla is salver-shaped, with a contraction 

 in the tube, at the insertion of the stamens, 

 the five segments of the limb being wedge- 

 shaped and notched. The style is slender, and 

 the stigma capitate. The capsule opens natu- 

 rally by ten teeth, which curl back. The Cy- 

 clamen, or Sow-bread, one of the genera be- 

 longing to this order, has the lobes of the 

 corolla bent back ; and when the flower falls, 

 the peduncle coils up in a most curious manner, 

 so as to bury the seed-vessel in the earth. 

 These plants have tuberous roots, which are so 

 acrid as only to be eaten by the wild-boars. 

 The seed-vessel of the Pimpernel {Anagallis) 

 resembles a round case with a lid, which may 

 be taken off, when it displays a great number 

 of seeds, so closely packed, that no room is 

 lost. The principal other genera are the 



