PRIMULA 333 



PRIMULA, Linn. Gen. n. i8o. 

 P. acaulis, Grufberg in Linn. Amoen. Acad. iv. 97 (i759\ nomen 

 solum, and Hill, Syst. Veg. viii. 25 (1765). Primrose. 



P. vulgaris, Huds. Fl. Angl. 70 (1762). P. veris, var. acaulis, Linn. Sp, 

 PI. 205 (1753)- 

 Top. Bot. 334. Syme, E. B. vii. 131, t. 1129. Nyman, 603, Fl. Oxf. 245. 

 Native. Sylvestral. Woods, thickets, hedge-banks, &c. Common and 

 generally distributed, although not so abundant as in Oxfordshire. 

 P. February-September. 

 First record. (For the hybrid) P. elatior, Oxlip, Mr. Bicheno, Mavor's 

 Agr. Berks, 1809. 

 P. acaulis hybridizes freely with the Cowslip. 



P. ACAULIS X VERIS. P. Variabilis, Goupil, in Mem. Soc. Linn. Paris, 

 iii. (1825) 294, is not the true P. elatior of Jacquin, and has been found 

 in all the districts, but of course much less frequently than its parents. 

 The subjoined are a few of its localities. 



1. Isis. Copse near Botley, Dj/er, in. Joztrn. J5o^. (1871) 147. Wytham. 



Buscot. Appleton. Cumnor. 



2. Ock. Shellingford, Richards. Mareham, Walker. Cumnor Hurst, 



Dyer. Denchworth, Wait. Uf&ngton. Tubney. Besilsleigh. 

 Pusey. Bagley. Kadley. 



3. Pang. Beech Wood and Park Coppice. Hampstead Norris, 



J. Lousley in Russell's Cat. Sulham, Tufnail. Ashampstead. 

 Compton. 



4. Kennet. Newbury, Bicheno. Inkpen. Irish Wood, Kintbury. 



5. Loddon. Park Place, Stanton. Hurst Grove in meadows, Melvill. 



Arborfield, Tayler. Windsor Forest. 

 Var. CAULEscENS, Koch, Syn. Fl. Germ. 587 (1837), Wytham Wood, 

 Ashridge Wood, &c., is a form in which an umbel of flowers is borne on 

 a short stalk, but the flowers are the same size as in the ordinary plant. 

 Describing the Boar's Hill range, Matthew Arnold in r/?r/rszs writes— 

 * Down each green bank hath gone the ploughboy's team, 

 And only in the hidden brookside gleam 

 Pi'imroses, orphans of the flowery prime.' 

 Primula acaulis occurs in all the bordering counties. 



P. veris, Linn. Sp. PI. 142 (1753). Cowslip. 



P. veris major, Ger. Em. 780. P. officinalis, Jacq. Misc. i. 159, and 



Index Kewensis. 

 Top. Bot. 334. Syme, E. B. vii. 133, 1. 1130. Nyman, 603. Fl. Oxf. 246. 

 Native. Pascual. Pastures, hedge-banks, borders of woods, chalk downs, 



railway banks, &c. Locally abundant and widely distribiited, 



evincing a partiality for calcareous pastures but not restricted to 



them. P. March-May. 



