PRIMULA. 
335 
PRIMULA. 
properly called a florist’s flower. 
The colour of the flower of Poly- 
anthus is always yellow and brown, 
and the finest flowers are those that 
have the segments of the corolla 
flat, and the circumference marked 
with a yellow line, the anthers of 
the stamens being only visible, and 
not the pistil, the anthers being ar- 
ranged symmetrically, so as to form 
what florists call a none eye. Some- 
times the anthers are not seen, but 
the style and stigma stand up con- 
spicuously like a large pin; and 
when this is the case, the flowers 
are called pin-eyed, and are consid- 
ered worthless. The double Poly- 
anthus, and the red and white 
Hose-in-hose Primrose, are two 
varieties, having double corollas, 
which may be called botanists’ va- 
rieties, and are ornamental border 
flowers, but are not valued by flo- 
rists. Besides these, however, there 
are a great many florists’ varieties 
with names, which are cultivated 
in pots like Auriculas. 
The Primrose is very ornamental 
as a border flower, but it has not 
sported so much as the Polyanthus, 
and there are therefore no florists’ 
primroses. The border or garden 
varieties, however, which are mostly 
double, are very showy; among 
these the double flesh-coloured, 
double white, double’ brimstone, 
double red, double copper, double 
dark purple, and double violet, de- 
serve a place in every garden. ‘The 
single white and the single red, 
both of which are found wild, are 
also much admired, and are valuable 
as coming into bloom in March. 
Primula elatior, the Oxlip, has a 
scape or flower-stem rather taller 
than that of the Polyanthus, but 
the flowers arenot solarge. There 
are a number of varieties, but none 
of them have been selected and 
named. 
Primula véris, the Cowslip, bears 
a close resemblance to the Oxlip, 
See ee ee a a A EE er aed 
but is more commonly found with 
the flowers yellow than red, and 
like the Oxlip it is a pretty border 
flower. ‘The Polyanthus, the Prim- 
rose, the Oxlip, and the Cowslip, 
are all species of the same genus, 
and fecundate one another readily, 
so that an endless number of va- 
rieties may be raised from seed. 
Where there is room and leisure, 
this affords a great source of interest 
to the amateur, who, as every plant 
comes into flower for the first time, 
is eager to observe whether it pre- 
sents any thing new, and if new, 
good. When a gardener raises these 
plants from seed, and finds his la- 
bour and anxiety rewarded with a 
good variety, he is delighted, and 
probably gratifies himself by calling 
it some high-soundi ame, and 
promising or exchanging pant of 
it with his friends. eeds may 
be gathered when the capsules are 
ready to burst in July, and sown 
immediately in a shady border, or 
in pots or pans of loamy soil kept 
moist and shaded. The covering 
should be very slight, otherwise the 
seeds will not come up. In fine sea- 
sons seeds sown as soon as they are 
gathered will produce plants which 
will flower in the following autumn ; 
but in general it is necessary to 
wait till the next spring. When 
the seedlings have produced two or 
three leaves, they should be trans- 
planted into rich foamy soil, in a 
shady situation, at the distance of 
a few inches from each other; and 
as they come into flower the good 
sorts should be marked, and the less 
admired kinds pulled up and thrown 
away. When the seed is not sown 
immediately after being gathered, 
it may be kept till the following 
March, and treated-as above men- 
tioned. Auricula seed requires ex- 
actly the same treatment; except- 
ing that it is generally sown in pans 
of soil composed of a mixture of 
leaf-mould and loam, and the seed- 
