An Encyclopedia of Horticulture. 



223 



Primula — continued. 



Fig. 285. Prisul.v VARi.vniLis. 



summer, t. obov.ate or sul)-oi-hicular, with cinsely-set teeth, dark 

 green, covered with j^hindidar hairs, and viscid on both side.s. 

 Ii, 2iii. to 4in. I'vrenees, 1768. A hand.some species. See I-'ig. 

 286. (1!. jr. H ; "j. F. .-V. v. App. 27 ; L. B. C. 182 ; R. G. 656.) 

 Syn. p. I'iUom. P. decora is a sliglit variety of this species 

 {B. M. 1922 ; L. B. C. 1480.) 



Fig. 286. Pkimula VISCOS.i, showing Habit and detached XTmhel 

 of Flowers. 



P. V. latifolia (broad-leaved), Jl. violet, with mealy throat and 

 calyx, fragrant ; umbel from one to twenty-flowered. Early 

 suiliraer. l. obovate or oblong, sometimes 4in. long, anil nearly 

 2in. broad, .serrately toothed from middle upwards, ciliate, hairy 

 on botli surfaces, h. 4in. to 8in. Pyrenees, 1820. (Fl. Ment. 12 ; 

 R. <!. 122.) 



P, V. pedemontana (Piedmont).* /I. rosy-purple, with a 

 yellowish-white eye, collected into a dense head, on scajtes from 

 2in. to 4in. in height: throat of corolla not farinose. Spring. 

 /. oblong or ovate, obsoletelv repand-tootheil, with findjriated 

 margins, h. 6in. Piedmont, '1826. (P,. II. 5794.) 



P. vulgaris (common).* Common I'rimrose. Ji. usually pale 

 yellow, with a fiat limb ; caly.x tube inflated, five-angled ; lobes 

 acuminate : umbels sessile, giving the appearance of being 

 solitary. Spring. L tufted, sessile, h. 3in. Europe (Britain). 

 (Sy. i'^n. li. 1129.) There are numerous garden forms of this 

 species (frequently met with under the name of /*. acaidtii), a 

 double-flowering one being represented by Fig. 287. 



FRIMULACEJE. A natural order of herbs, of 

 variable lial'it, usually with a perennial rhizome, very 

 rarely sub-shrubby at base ; they mostly inhabit Northern 

 temperate (especially alpine) regions, being rare in the 



Frimulacese — continued. 

 Southern hemisphere, and very scarce in the tropics. 

 Flowers heriuaphroilite, usually regular, small or rather 

 large, sometimes axillary and solitary, often racemose, or 

 solitary or umbellate at the apex of an elongated scape, 

 the inflorescence centripetal ; calyx free, or very rarely 

 adnate to the ovary, four to nine-fid or parted, usually 

 persistent ; corolla hypogynous, generally gamopetalous, 

 rotate. hypocrateriform, or intandibuliform-campanu- 

 late, with a short or elongated tube ; limb four to nine- 

 parted or four to six-lobed, the lobes or segments 

 entire, emarginate, or fimbriate-lacerate, imbricated or 

 twisted in ajstivation, rarely sub-bilabiate or wanting ; 

 stamens as many as the corolla lobes. Capsule one- 

 celled. Leaves exstipulate, sometimes all radical, some- 

 times oauline, alternate, opposite, or whorled, simple or 

 rarely lobed (in Hottoiiia, pectinate and multifid). The 

 species are more remarkable for their beauty than for 

 the little economic value they possess. Most of the 

 flowers are sweet-scented. The order comprises twenty- 

 one genera, and about 250 species. Well-known illus- 

 trative genera are : Androsace, Cyclamen, Lysimachia, 

 and Primula. 



Fig. 287. Primul* vulgaris i'lore-pleno, showing Habit and 

 detached Flower. 



See Amaranthus hypo- 



FRINCE'S FEATHEB. 



cliondriacus. 



FBINOS. This genus is now included, by Bentham 

 and Hooker, under Ilex (which see). 



FBIONITTM (from priunion, a small saw ; alluding 

 to the serrated leaves). Ord. .Jitncecc. A monotypic 

 genus. The species is a remarkable, greenhouse rush, 

 found in swamps and on the banks of rivers in South 

 Africa. In its native habitat, it often increases to such 

 an extent as to choke the rivers in which it grows. 

 The leaf-sheaths contain a network of strong, black 

 fibre, suitable for bru.^h-making ; and the leaves them- 

 selves are useful for plaiting and thatching. It should 

 be grown in a compost of loam and leaf mould, and the 

 pot stood in a pan of water. Propagated by division. 



P. Falmita (Palmiet, native name). Palmite Rush. /I. greenish- 

 golden, small, similar to those of Juucjis, sessile or very shortly 

 pedicellate, disposed in a coinj>ound, pedunculate panicle 4ft. 

 long. /. in a cluster at the top of the caudex, 2ft. tt» 3ft. long, 

 linear, dilatetl at base into an imbricating sheath, h. 6ft. 1857. 

 (B. M. 5722.) 



FBISmATOCABrFTJS (from prisma, 2irismatos, a 

 prism, and karpn.^. a fruit ; alluiling to the long, 

 prismatic form of the fruit). Okd. Campanulacea;. A 

 genus comprising fifteen or sixteen species of green- 



