NAT. ORDER. PRIMULACE^. 27 



The varieties of this beautiful plant are numerous, being partly 

 wild and partly produced by cultivation. The principal of which 

 are, the Common Yellow-flowered, tlie White, the Paper White, 

 the Red, the Double Yellow, the Double White, the Double Red, 

 the Double Pink, and the Double Crimson Primrose. This is a na- 

 tive of most parts of Europe, and the United States. It produces 

 its flowers in March and April with the Wood Anemone. 



It is to be observed, that a fine flower of this sort should pos- 

 sess a graceful elegance of form, a richness of coloring, and a perfect 

 symmetry of parts. The properties are mostly similar to those which 

 distinguish the AwicuUt, 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 color : the ground 

 color is most admired when shaded with a light and dark rich crim- 

 son, resembling velvet, with a 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, techni- 

 cally termed the pips, should be large, quite flat, and perfectly circu- 

 lar, excepting the small indentures between each division, which 

 separate into five and sometimes six heart-like segments ; and the 

 edging should resemble a bright gold lace, bold, clear, and distinct, 

 and so nearly of the same color of the eye and stripes, as scarcely 

 to be distinguished from it. 



In the following we introduce the varieties which are in most 

 general cultivation, their botanical description, &c. 



Primula vulgaris — Common Primrose. This species has a 

 perennial root, growing obliquely, appearing as if bit off at the end, 

 beset with thick reddish scales, which are the remains of past 

 leaves, sending down numerous very long, round, whitish fibres ; it 

 has a singular smell, somewhat like that of anise ; the leaves are 



