1914-15.] BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF EDINBURGH 321 



through Yunnan and the nearest Chinese station east of the 

 Mekong and the Shan States is Szemao — not so far away. 



The wild plants of P. obconica, Hance, from West 

 Hupeh and East Szechwan in Plates XXI, XXII, XXIII 

 have the physiognomy of limestone xerophytes, but they 

 do not show the extreme xeromorphy that the tj^pe exhibits. 

 That is seen in the form to which I have given the name 



P. parva, Balf . fil. 1 (Plate XXXIII) 



No member of the obconica line carries on its face more 

 clearly the marks of the habitat than does the one I now 

 mention under the name of P. parva, Balf. fil. The speci- 

 mens of it which I have seen were collected by Mr. Forrest 

 and by the Abbe Maire, and the habitat of rock clefts on 

 limestone given by both collectors is that which the appear- 

 ance of the plant suggests. 



This dwarf plant has a hard wood}^ rhizome and the 

 characteristic grey look of so many limestone plants. The 

 thick leaves are wonderfully uniform in their cordate or 

 rounded shape, although varying in the length of the hirsute 

 petiole. In the smallest plants the leaves form a dense 

 cluster at the end of the rhizome, and the petioles are 

 shorter than the lamina ; in other plants the petioles elon- 

 gate and push out the lamina far from the crown of the 

 rhizome. The plant foliage is indeed a miniature of that 

 of the typical P. obconica, Hance. The inflorescence is 



1 Primula parva, Balf. fil. 



P. obconica, Forrest, in Notes R.B.G., Edin., iv (1908), 216. Parva 

 calcicola lieliophila glauca. Rhizoma lignosum vesrigiis foliorum 

 obteetum. Folia petiolata nunc ad 15 cm. nunc vix 2'5 longa ; lamina 

 3-4-5 cm. longa et lata nonnunquam minor vel major rotundato- 

 orbicularis crassa supra scabriuscula infra pallidior pubescens venis 

 hirsutis margine subtiliter undulato-crenata denticulata basi cor- 

 data ; petiolus lamina longior ad 9 cm. longus sed saepe brevior, plus 

 minusve pilis articulatis fulvis vestitus. Scapus brevis intra folia 

 immersus 1-4 cm. longus cum bracteis et pedicelUs plus minusve 

 birsutus umbellam 2-5 floram gerens ; bracteae 5 mm. longae lineares ; 

 pedicelli 2 cm. longi subfiliformes. Calyx 5 mm. longus campanulato- 

 poculiformis pubescens basi barbatus lobis 1 mm. latis mucronulatis 

 intus puberulis. Corollae tubus 1*1 cm. longus, lobi obcordata eniar- 

 ginati 7'5 mm. longi, 8 - 5 mm. lati. Stamina in flore longistylo infra 

 medium tubi corollini inserta. Stylus inclusus ; stigma rubrum. 



Yunnanfu. Dry clefts of limestone rocks. Alt. 7-9000 feet. G.Forrest, 

 No. 312. 



Yunnansen. Maire, No. 924. In clefts of rocks on higb peaks. 



