I(i 



by producing flowers in which various shades of pink and puiple take the place, 

 first partly and afterwards wholly, of the normal yellow. If the soil do not 

 contain the carbon and oxides of iron necessary to i^roduce the change of colour, 

 it may yet be rich enough in the materials out of which the plant produces 

 structure and yellow flowers ; and in such case the advance is made in the 

 direction of strtictural development. In place of producing a sessile umbt-1, the 

 plant raises the umbel upon a short scape or stalk, less than half an inch long 

 in some specimens. The flowers at the same time grow deeper-hued ; while tha 

 hairs upon the leaves and other parts of the plant grow more numerous, and the 

 inequality in tliis length, which characterised P. vulgaris, is less marked. In 

 succeeding generations, if the richness of the soil continue, these changes go on 

 until the scape is about three inches in length, the flower stalks having lost 

 part of their length. This stage I recognise as the Primrose Oxlip. The process 

 continues ; the scape lengthening, the hairs becoming more equal, the coroll* 

 acquiring an orange tint about the throat or entrance of the tube, and the 

 calyx — no longer hollow between the midribs — showing a more or less inflated 

 membrane. "We then have what may be called the wild Polyanthus stage. 

 Tiie garden Polyanthus I take to be the same stage reached by cultivation. 

 The process of developement goes on ; the scape becoming larger, while the 

 flower stalks continue equal, and the flowers are almost as large as these of 

 P. vulgaris ; the beautiful orange tint of the corolla settling down in dense spots 

 on the folds around the opening of the tube ; and the whole plant becoming 

 lighter in hue from the tomentose state of the hairs. This is the apex of the 

 pyramid of growth — the perfect form of the flower— the Oxlip. 



The Auricula comes in here. Although maroon, deep purple, or brown 

 with us, in its native state on the Swiss Alps its corolla is yellow, like that of all 

 other forms of Primula in a natural state. The darker hues with which it appears 

 in our gardens and greenhouses are the result of rich manure applied for the 

 purpose, that is, of an excessive amount of carbon. 



Supposing cultivation not to intervene, and the seed to fall into soil less 

 rich than that which nourished the parent plant, the process of degradation 

 begins. Florists know the difiieulty there is in keeping up artificially developed 

 plants to any desired standard either of colour or form. In its native habitat, 

 the Auricula is sometimes found white, probably from a failure of carbon in 

 the soiL In this country, the Oxlip does not lose colour but declines in 

 structure. The length of the flower-stalks becomes irregular, and the beautiful 

 open umbel is converted into a cyme, in which one or two flowers stand out 

 prominently, Oxlips amid a group of flowers that are almost Cowslips. A change 

 in the condition and length of the hairs goes on passibus equis : they become 

 softer and shorter. We have now the Cowslip Oxlip. In subsequent stages of 

 the process these changes are carried further, the cyme of flowers becoming 

 more compact, owin? to the shortening of the flower-stalks, until we have a 

 more or less dense head of flowers, making up by the number of its blooms — in 

 f.ivourable circumstances — for their small size as compared with those of the 



