PRIMULA. 



rounder and roomier flowers of a clearer whito (inheriting the ampli- 

 tude of P. hirsuta), more laxly and tastefully arranged in a wide, 

 spacious cauliflower, that seems sitting on the spreading, leathery 

 tuft of broad toothed leaves. 



P. nivalis, Pallas, is a most imposing, most widespread, most 

 splendid and variable Primula, which looks as if it should prove as 

 robust as P. japonica, yet has given more trouble than all the money 

 it has ever cost, which is no trifle. Every species in the group is 

 magnificent, but the generic namo of P. nivalis covers the most 

 splendid of all, and in its wide cloak embraces, among many other 

 forms, all the plants with which gardens struggle under the name of 

 P. Stuartii. The large leaves of the rosette are deployed after the 

 stem has come to maturity ; they are dark and thick, ribbon -shaped, 

 and more or less densely vested with meal of silver or gold. The stout 

 stems rise to a foot or more, carrying a well-furnished head of large 

 violet -blue or purple blossoms, with very often another head still 

 higher up. The calyces are usually deep purple, coated inside with 

 meal that shows through in the folds, and ultimately containing a 

 long cylindrical capsule, sticking far out. The race grows everywhere 

 where Primulas are to be found, except in South America ; and in 

 its distribution has taken many forms, all of them beautiful in the 

 extreme. Yet though P. nivalis has been in cultivation for more 

 than a hundred years, it is still no commoner than Dodoes in the garden. 

 It is, in fact, a difficult and uncertain thing, so long as its wants are 

 not satisfied ; if they are, there should bo no further discontent ; if 

 they are not, then P. nivalis shows no hesitation about mimping 

 away. In all its forms what it seems to require is very rough and 

 perfect drainage down below, and a light, rich soil, which shall be a 

 sponge of running coolness far underneath the plant's roots in summer, 

 but after that be turned into perfectly dry and comfortable winter 

 quarters, since, for anything like lingering moisture about its nock, 

 P. nivalis has no less urgent an aversion than Mr. Woodhouse. The 

 rule holds good for all the species of the family, and is worth taking 

 trouble to follow, in the interests of a group so sturdy in natural in- 

 clinations, and so especially brilliant in beauty. And now it will be 

 most convenient hero to deal with the plant's immediate forms and 

 sub-species privatim and seriatim. (But await further accounts of 

 this aggregate) : 



P. nivalis, type, ranges through Northern Asia, and is a superb 

 and stalwart splendour of a foot high, with tiers of noble purple 

 flowers on short pedicels. Except for the calyx, it is powderless. 



P. nivalis Bayernii is a beautiful white-blossomed Caucasian type, 



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