PRIMDLACE^. 139 



petioles, obtuse or subobtuse, ei'ose-dcnticulate or repand-denticulate, 

 nearly smooth above, more or less thickly covered with yellowish- white 

 meal beneath, especially when young. Umbel raised on a scape (very 

 rarely sessile) ; pedicels slightly unequal, most of them about equal 

 to the calyx (except in the scapeless forms), erect ; bracts of the 

 involucre slightly gibbous at the base. Calyx oblong-ovoid ; segments 

 half the length of the tube, oblong, abruptly acuminated towards the 

 apex, obtuse. Tube of the corolla half as long again as tlie calyx-teeth ; 

 limb narrower across than the length of the tube, rotate, spreading ; 

 segments deltoid-obovate, deeply obcordate, contiguous, flat. Capsule 

 oblong-ovoid, scarcely exceeding the calyx. Flowers not dimorphous. 

 In damp pastures. Rare and local. Confined to the counties of 

 Sutherland and Caithness, and the Orkney Isles. 



Scotland. Perennial. Early Summer, and again in late Summer, 

 and sometimes a third time in Autumn. 



Very similar to P. farinosa, from which, however, it is perfectly 

 distinct. The leaves have the broadest part nearer the middle ; the 

 scape is rarely more than 4 or 5 inches high even in fruit; the bracts 

 of the involucre are much less saccate at the base ; the calyx is much 

 more swollen ; the corolla tube longer, and the limb narrower, deeper 

 pui'ple, with the segments broader; and the capsule is very much 

 shorter, not above one-fourth longer than the calyx, and often not so 

 much. 'The flowers are apparently never dimorphous, for though the 

 point of insertion of the stamens varies, the height of the stigma varies 

 Avith them, and a single plant seeds freely; the seedlings show no 

 tendency to approach P. farinosa. 



In the form with sessile umbels, the pedicels are much longer than 

 the calyx. 



Scottish Bird's eye Primrose. 



GENUS III.—C Y C L A M E N. Toumef. 



Calyx dcepl}' 5-cleft, free from the ovary. Corolla deciduous, with 

 a short globular tube, and a limb' of 5 reflexcd slightly twisted seg- 

 ments. Stamens 5. Capsule globular or globular-turbinatc, slightly 

 flesh}', opening at the apex by 5 valves, which arc generally split, and 

 at length revolute. Seeds several, amphitropous. 



Herbs -with globular depressed rootstocks, and stalked radical leaves 

 with a roundish or ovate lamina, cordate at the base, generally angu- 

 lated, and often marked with pale green or white. Flowers drooping, 

 solitary at the extremity of scapes, which in most of the species roll 



T 2 



