PEIMULA STUARTII. 19 



Tlie Primula involucrata is another gem, of rather dwarfer growth than the pre- 

 ceding, with pure white flowers ; and this, with the P. Munroi, also with white 

 blossoms, should be in every collection of Alpines. Both of them are kept by all 

 the principal Nurserymen. 



But even these fine species must yield the palm to a plant which, if it be not a 

 true Primula, was at first classed as such, and is, at any rate, very nearly allied. "We 

 allude to the C'ankriena chrysantha of De Vriese (the Primula imperialis of some 

 Botanists) found hitherto only in the island of Java, and there only on the summit of 

 the extinct volcanic mountain called Manellawangie, at an elevation of about 9,000 

 feet. This noble Primrose — for such we will still term it — produces a flower stem 

 often three feet high, the blossoms of which are bomc in three, or sometimes four, 

 verticils or whorls, one above the other. The flowers are, as the name indicates, of 

 a golden yellow, and in form campanulate, somewhat resembling that of the P. nivalis, 

 but with a much wider tube. The plants of Java are most of them too tender for 

 open-air cultivation in this country, but the elevation at which the Cankriena is 

 found, renders it more than probable that it will prove hardy in these latitudes. 

 Dr. Junghuhn, its discoverer, states that on the borders of the stream, in the im- 

 mediate neighbourhood of which the plant was found growing, he often detected 

 thin ice, and the mean temperature did not exceed 50° Fah. It is a remarkable fact 

 in vegetable geography, that this beautiful plant should be found only in a single 

 isolated locality, and there only within a range of 300 feet of altitude and 1000 feet 

 of diameter, though the case is by no means unique. We are not aware whether 

 this fine Alpine is yet introduced in the living state to this country, but we hope the 

 collectors will not lose sight of it. 



Before concluding the present notice, we are desirous of calling the attention of 

 all lovers of herbaceous plants to another highly interesting genus of this Order, 

 we mean the Dodecatheons, or American Cowslips. They are all perfectly hardy, 

 and of the easiest cultivation in any situation not too much exposed to parching 

 influences in summer ; a moist peat border suits them admirably. As they die 

 down in autumn, a label of some kind should be inserted close to them, or they 

 may receive injury when the borders are dug. All the species and varieties may 

 be obtained at a cheap rate ; the best are gigantea and Ifeadia elegans. 



The Androsace lanuginosa is another of the Primulacece which should be in every 

 collection ; and the same may be said of the charming Soldanellas. 



■\Yc will merely add, as a matter of form, that Primula is derived from 

 primus, first or early — in allusion to the early period at which most of the species 

 flower. 



