AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF HORTICULTURE. 



223 



P r him 1 a continued. 



FIG. 285. PRIMULA VARIABILIS. 



summer. I. obovate or sub-orbicular, with closely-set teeth, dark 

 green, covered with glandular hairs, and viscid on both sides. 

 h. 2in. to 4in. Pyrenees, 1768. A handsome species. See Fig. 

 286. (B. M. 14 ; J. F. A. v. App. 27 ; L. B. C. 182 ; R. G. 656.) 

 SVN. P. villosa. P. decora is a slight variety of this species 

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



FIG. 286. PRIMULA VISCOSA, showing Habit and detached Umbel' 

 of Flowers. 



P. v. latifolia (broad-leaved), fl. violet, with mealy throat and 

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

 summer. I. obovate or oblong, sometimes 4in. long, and nearly 

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

 on both surfaces, h. 4in. to 8in. Pyrenees, 1820. (FL Ment. 12 ; 

 R. G. 122.) 



P. v. pcdemontana (Piedmont).* H. rosy-purple, with a 

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

 2in. to 4in. in height ; throat of corolla not farinose, bpring. 

 I. oblong or ovate, obsoletely repand-toothed, with fimbnatea 

 margins, h. 6in. Piedmont, 1826. (B. M. 5794.) 



P. vulgar is (common).* Common Primrose. Jl. usually pale 

 yellow, with a flat limb ; calyx tube inflated, five-angled ; lobes 

 acuminate; umbels sessile, giving the appearance of being 

 solitary. Spring. I. tufted, sessile, h. Sin. Europe (Britain). 

 (Sy. En. B. 1129.) There are numerous garden forms of this 



rcies (frequently met with under the name of P, acaulu), a 

 ible-flowering one being represented by Fig. 287. 

 PRIMULACE2E. A natural order of herbs, of 

 variable habit,, usually with a perennial rhizome, very 

 rarely sub-shrubby at base ; they mostly inhabit Northern 

 temperate (especially alpine) regions, being rare in the 



Primulacese continued. 



Southern hemisphere, and very scarce in the tropics. 

 Flowers hermaphrodite, 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 infundibnliform-campanu- 

 lato, 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 aestivation, rarely sub-bilabiate or wanting ; 

 stamens as many as the corolla lobes. Capsule one- 

 celled. Leaves exstipulate, sometimes all radical, some- 

 times cauline, alternate, opposite, or whorled, simple or 

 rarely lobed (in Hottonia, 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. 



FRINGE ALBERT'S YEW. See Saxegothea 

 conspicna. 



KIQ. 287. PRIMULA VULGARIS FLORB-PLKNO, showing Habit and 

 detached Flower. 



FRINGE'S FEATHER. See Amaranthns hypo- 

 chondriacus. 



FRINOS. This genus is now included, by Bentham 

 and Hooker, under Hex (which see). 



PRIONIUM (from prionton, a small saw ; alluding 

 to the serrated leaves). OBD. Juncece. A monotypio 

 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 brush-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. Palmita (Palmiet, native name). Palmite Rush. /. greenish- 

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

 pedicellate, disposed in a compound, pedunculate panicle 4ft. 

 long. L in a cluster at the top of the caudex, 2ft. to 3ft. Ions, 

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

 (B. M. 5722.) 



FRISBXATOCARFUS (from prisma, prismatos, a 

 prism, and karpos, a fruit ; alluding to the long, 

 prismatic form of the fruit). OBD. Campanulaceae. A 

 genus comprising fifteen or sixteen species of green- 



