PRIMULA. 



al \y wears off; the leaves are largo, long-stalked and deeply 

 heart-shaped, toothed and scalloped at the edge ; the stem is always 

 shorter than the foliage, carrying a wide head of almost pendulous 

 pink blossom. Its home is in the forcsis of Yunnan, under the shade 

 of trees. 



P. parva is a form of P. dbconica, q.v. 



P. patens, Turcz= Primula SieboWi. 



P. patens, Wright = A?idrosace saxifragifolia, Bungo. 



P. Paxiana, from the far East of China, stands obscurely in the 

 race. Tall stems carrying whorls of noble blue-lilac flowers stand 

 up among large and long-stalked thin leaves, vaguely suggesting 

 drawn-up foliage of Akhemilla vulgaris. It is a rarity of damp 

 grassy mountain-slopes in between the rocks here and there, about 

 Kiao-chau. 



P. x Paxil, Wetts., is a hybrid in the group cf P. officinalis and 

 P. acaulis. 



P. x Paxii (Gusmus) is nothing at all. 



P. pedemontana takes perhaps the highest rank in the brilliant 

 Erythrodose group, even surpassing P. hirsuta. In this section it is 

 distinguished by the superior stature of its scape, which rises well 

 above the foliage, to the height of 3 or 4 inches and often much more. 

 And it is further to be known, always and absolutely, by the hem of 

 conspicuous russet fur that edges the leaves, especially when they are 

 young, but always visibly. The dark leaves themsslv* s are otherwise 

 notable in being smoother and glossier on their face than those of its 

 hairier cousins — oval-pointed, usually toothed, and forming into 

 clumps of two or three crowns, from each of which spring stout stalks 

 with loose heads of the loveliest wide-open flowers of rich clear pink, 

 usually with a clear white eye. This lovely species has only a small 

 district, and is very local even there, ranging just from tho Western 

 Graians into the Cottians ; here, however, it is so gorgeous in its 

 abundance on the high open moors (as, for instance, above Bonneval, 

 and on the L'ttle Mont Cenis) that all the distance is swathed in films 

 of pink as far as the eye can see, and the great boulders, piled or lonely 

 on hollow or slope, are outlined with colour down every plane and 

 i revice. It varies also, though not extra vagantly ; the eye of discern- 

 ment, however, may pick out many forms of especial volume in the 

 flower, five-pointed clarity of white star, or roseate softness of colour ; 

 and, less frequently, may happen on flesh-pale, white, blue, and double- 

 flowered developments. In cultivation P. pedemontana is notably 

 dependent on sun, and is not so quick as others in this group to make 

 itself at homo and surmount the annoyance of removal. When rc- 



166 



