A. W. Hill 7 



flowered blue variety was raised a Chenies in the autumn of 1904, and 

 this was followed by the production of a large-flowered blue form in 

 1906 (Plate I, figs. 10 — 12). A variety named coerulea, remarkable for 

 the blue colour of the flowers, was shown by M. Ferard' at the French 

 Horticultural Society, October 1907, and the production of a similar 

 variety in France is of interest as it seems almost certain that the blue 

 colour has been developed quite independently in two different places. 

 Herr Arends has also produced a blue form and he says in his letter 

 " out of the wJnte I raised the blue, beginning with plants which only 

 showed a slight bluish hue in the bud. It took about ten years to 

 bring this colour out clearly." Unfortunately, Herr Arends has not 

 supplied exact dates of the origin of his varieties, but it seems clear 

 that his blue has had no connection with the similar English variety 

 and may possibly have been independent of Ferard's var. coerulea. 

 Magenta and deep purple forms (Plate II, figs. 22 — 26) have also been 

 produced and should perhaps be more properly regarded as belonging 

 to the red than to the blue series. 



Size of flowers. 



The increase in the size of the flowers was one of the first of the 

 changes noticed in P. obconica after it had been under cultivation for a 

 few years. In 1887- a few plants were reported to have produce! 

 flowers nearly double the size of the original plants. In France the 

 tendency to variation in this plant does not appear to have received 

 much notice until 1892^ In this year M. Lille of Lyons brought out 

 a variety grandiflora, and in the following year a variety with flowers 

 larger than the type was produced and fixed by Messrs Vilmorin and 

 sent out by them in the year 1894 with the designation " a grande 

 fleur amelioree." 



In England in this same year plants grown at Gunnersbury Park 

 are reported to have had flowers which approached very closely in 

 size to those of the ordinary Chinese Primula^. In 1895, however, 

 Mr Tallack, writing in The Garden^, expressed the view that there had 

 been little or no advance on the best flowers of former years, and that 



1 Rev. Hon. 1907, p. 531. 



2 Journ. Hort. 1887, May 26, p. 417 (N. G.). See also The Garden, 1886, March 13, 

 p. 241, and Gard. Chroii. 1890, February 8, p. 175 (D.). 



3 Rev. Hort. 1897, p. 374, 1899, p. 548, ibid. 1893, p. 123. 



* The Garden, 1893, March 25, p. 242 ; see also ibid. p. 327. 

 5 The Garden, 1895, April 6, p. 240. 



