THE PRIMROSE. 



PROF. WILLIAM KERR HIGLEY, 

 Secretary of The Chicago Academy of Sciences. 



What can the blessed spring- restore 

 More gladdening than your charms? 



Bringing the memory once more 

 Of lovely fields and farms! 



Of thickets, breezes, birds, and flowers 



Of life's unfolding prime; 

 Of thoughts as cloudless as the hours; 



Of souls without a crime. 



Mary Howitt. 



AMONG the many beautiful blos 

 soms to be found in the field, 

 the forest, or the garden prob 

 ably none have served to inspire 

 the poet more than the primrose and 

 its near relative, the English cowslip. 

 Someone has said that "no flowers 

 typify the beautiful more strongly than 

 those of the primrose which, though 

 showy, are delicate and seem inclined 

 to retire to the shade of the plant's 

 leaves." 



These plants belong to the Primrose 

 family (Primulacece) which includes 

 twenty-eight genera and over three- 

 hundred and fifty species. Nearly all 

 are natives of the Northern hemisphere, 

 some being found as far north as Green 

 land (the Greenland primrose). Some 

 of the species are Alpine, and a few 

 are found in the southern portions of 

 South America and Africa. One of 

 the most interesting wild species of this 

 family is the shooting star or American 

 cowslip, which gjows abundantly on 

 the prairies of the Eastern portion of 

 the United States. Dr. Erasmus Dar 

 win tells us that "the uncommon beauty 

 of this flower occasioned Linnaeus to 

 give it the name Dodecatheon, signifiy- 

 ing the twelve heathen gods." 



The family as a whole seems to have 

 no economic value of importance and 

 are of use to man simply to beautify 

 his surroundings. Many of the species 

 are very interesting to the scientific 

 observer, for the structure of their 

 flowers is such that they are peculiarly 

 adapted for cross- fertilization. This 

 character has made it possible for the 

 floriculturist to produce many of the 

 beautiful forms that are found in cultiva 

 tion. The generic name of the prim 

 rose is Primula from the diminutive of 

 the Latin word Primus, meaning first. 



The blossoming of the plants in the 

 early spring led Linnaeus to give them 

 this name. It is said that their name 

 was also applied, during the middle 

 ages, to the European daisy (Bellis 

 perennis). 



This genus, Primula, is the type of 

 the family and contains about one hun 

 dred and fifty species from which have 

 been produced, both in nature and 

 under cultivation, many hybrid forms, 

 one investigator claiming to have found 

 more than twenty in the Alps alone. The 

 species are found distributed through 

 out the cooler regions of Europe and 

 Asia and a few are natives of North 

 America. 



The common or English primrose 

 {Primula vulgaris), by careful culture, 

 produces a wonderful number of varia 

 tions. The wild forms produce only 

 yellow single flowers while from those 

 under cultivation are developed nu 

 merous varieties, both single and 

 double, which vary greatly in color- 

 red, pink, white, purple, and many 

 shades of each. 



The cowslip primrose (Primula veris) 

 is also a native of England. The flow 

 ers are yellow and nodding, and the 

 plants emit a strong odor of anise. 



The Himalaya M'ountains are proba 

 bly more rich in beautiful and interest 

 ing species and varieties than any 

 other locality. Here is found the most 

 beautiful of all the primroses, the deli 

 cate rose-colored form (Primula rosea.) 



This species of primrose should 

 not be confounded with the evening 

 primrose, of which there are about 

 twenty species, all American. The 

 yellow flowers of the latter appear in 

 the summer, opening at night, the thin 

 and delicate petals withering the next 

 day. 



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