170 ALPINE PLANTS 
one genus a tithe of the comment and information the 
merits of the hardy Primulas would warrant. 
Fortunately some members of the primrose family are 
so well known that detailed description of them is un- 
necessary, and furthermore although 
it is a family of infinite variety, 
containing species of remarkable 
distinctiveness, there is nevertheless 
an unmistakable facial likeness be- 
tween wellnigh all its members. 
From the minute Primula scotica, 
and the almost as small P. farinosa, 
and the even smaller P. minima, 
to the great whorled spikes of 
Primula japonica, P. pulverulenta 
PRIMULA FORRESTII. and their hybrids, we find the same 
form of individual flower, widely 
as they may vary in size and arrangement on their stalks. 
In the common primrose we see the blossoms standing 
singly on slender stalks, in P. denticulata the flowers 
are closely bunched in heads as spherical as drumsticks, 
in P. elatior, P. cortusioides, P. Sieboldii and many others 
we find the flowers set in loose umbels, and, some, such 
as P. sikkimensis, the blossoms are pendent, nodding, but 
still the shape of the flower itself clearly marks its identity. 
About the most strikingly distinct species is Primula 
littoniana, the flowers of which are small and set closely 
on erect spikes after the manner of Orchis foliosa. Its 
colour also is very distinct, mauve with some shading of 
russet on the unopened buds. But in colours the Primulas 

