6 History of Primula 



A further improvement in the production of a red obconica " Vesuve," 

 was due to Messrs Rivoire, pere et fils', and the variety "Vesuve" pro- 

 duced in 1903 was said to surpass in colour all other reds and carmines. 

 Messrs Rivoire, like Messrs Vilmorin, attribute all their improvements 

 simply to selection. 



In the next year Messrs Barr and Sons exhibited their "Crimson 

 King^," described as a "rich deep lilac-crimson, a decided advance in 

 coloured obconicas," followed in 190.5 by their "Crimson Queen'*," a "deep 

 crimson-rose." In the note on this plant it is remarked that the fir.st 

 pink and rose forms were thought to have been .sent from a large 

 Fifeshire garden ten years before. Rover^ had also an assortment of 

 reds from " Zartesten blassen Rosa bis zum dunkelsten Karmin." 

 Messrs Sutton and Sons chronicle the production of a crimson form in 

 1906, and ou Nov. 23, 1909 they exhibited a remarkable variety °, 

 " Sutton's Fire King," having terra-cotta crimson flowers with a yellow 

 throat surrounded by a darker ring. The origin of this form is also 

 attributed entirely to selection. Herr Georg Arends of Ronsdorf, who 

 has kindly supplied information about his experiments with P. obconica, 

 obtained varieties which he has named "rosea" and "kermesiana" 

 (Plate II, fig. 35). In a letter dated Nov. 24, 1909, he writes " The last 

 quite new colour I gained was the var. 'Feuer Konigiu' (Fire queen), 

 hat came out of the Kermesiana in four or five years' work. There is 

 a kind of salmon-orange in the crimson of this variety and I think it 

 will be possible to have a pure salmon-pink shade from it in a few 

 years." So much interchange has gone on in recent years between 

 nurserymen that it is highly probable that many of the varieties 

 recorded by different houses have a common origin and are really the 

 same plant. A dark claret form to which the name "Chenies excelsior"" 

 has been given has the darkest coloured flower of the red series so far 

 seen (Plate II, figs. 37, 38). 



Violet-blue varieties. One of the most recent and striking colour 

 shades which have been evolved in P. obconica under cultivation is a 

 decided violet-blue shade which is now a well-marked and good colour. 

 The improvement in this direction in England appears to be due very 

 largely to the efforts of Mr Dickson. 1 am informed that a small 



1 Rev. Hon. 1903, p. 442, see also Rev. Hort. 1906, p. 487. 



2 Garden, 1904, March 24, p. 261. 



■■' Garden, 1905, February 9, p. 116. 



■• Gartenflora, 190.5, 54, p. 82 ; see also idem 1903, p. 204. 



5 Garden, 1910, April 9, p. 179, with plate. 



" Gard. Chrun. 1911, April 29, p. 268. 



