486 LXXXVII. PRIMULACEJ]. (J. D. Hooker.) [Primula. 



pale purple, salver-shaped, -f in. diam. ; lobes broad or narrow, mouth obscurely 

 annulate. Ovary obovoid or globose, tip rounded. Capsule usually oblong, exceed- 

 ing the calyx, sometimes globose and sunk in it. Seeds coarsely granulate. The 

 commonest Himalayan Primula, and very variable. 



VAB. cachemiriana ; leaves produced almost with the flowers, more mealy. P. 

 cachemiriana, Munro in Garden, 1879, 535. Western Himalaya. 



VAK. paucifolia ; leaves fewer longer-petioled, heads fewer-fld., calyx-teeth long 

 narrower nearly equalling the corolla-tube, capsule globose sunk in the calyx 

 (ripening very few seeds). Kashmir, at Poosiana, alt. 9000 ft., Clarke. 



12. P. capital a, Hook. Bot. Mag. t. 4550; usually very mealy, leaves 

 appearing with the flowers obovate-spathulate or oblanceolate obtuse or acute 

 finely toothed usually copiously mealy beneath, fleshy leafy scales few or 0, 

 heads very dense-fld. with the outer flowers deflexed and inner in bud forming- 

 a conical crown, flowers deep purple, tube long often wrinkled, limb flat or 

 concave. FL des Serres, vi. t. 618. P. globifera, Griff. Itin. Notes, 148. 



SIKKIM and BHOTAN HIMALAYA, alt. 12-15,000 ft., Griffith, J. D. H. 



I retain this species as distinct from P. denticulata with great hesitation, though 

 it differs much in habit and general appearance, and retains its characters in culti- 

 vation. 



13. P. erosa, Watt. Cat. 611 ; glabrous or puberulous, leaves not mealy 

 fully developed with the flowers membranous obovate-spathulate or oblanceo- 

 late toothed or erose reticulate fleshy leafy scales few or 0, flowers umbel! ed 

 purple mealy, pedicels very short, calyx-lobes long or short, tube twice as long 

 as the calyx, limb flat, mouth hardly annulate. Regel in Bot. Zeit. 1853, 333 ; 

 Gartenfl. ii. t. 51. P. denticulata, var. erosa, Duby in DC. Prodr. viii, 45. 



TEMPEBATE HIMALAYA ; from Kumaon to Bhotan, alt. 4500-9500 ft. (not seen in 

 Sikkim). 



I suspect Duby to be right in reducing this to a variety of P. denticulata, but it 

 differs in habit, and seems to be always recognised as distinct by Himalayan col- 

 lectors and by cultivators in Europe. The leaves are sometimes 18 inches long. 



14. P. bellidifolia, King in Herb. Cole. ; puberulous, fleshy scales few 

 or 0, leaves membranous flaccid elongate oblanceolate or spathulate coarsely 

 shallowly toothed, scape long, bracts minute concealed, flowers small densely 

 capitate, corolla-tube four times longer than the short obtusely lobed mealy 

 calyx, lobes small spreading obcordate. 



SIKKIM HIMALAYA; alt. 13,000 ft., King. 



Rootstock small. Leaves 24 in., obtuse, tapering into the petiole, pubescent 

 on both surfaces, not wrinkled, nerves faint, teeth irregular. Scape 4-8 in., 

 erect, glabrous. Heads nearly 1 in. diam. ; flowers bluish-purple, quite sessile. 

 Corolla glabrous; tube cylindric, \-^ in. long ; limb not so broad ; mouth contracted, 

 annulate. Stigma peltate. Capsule small, globose. A very distinct species, with 

 leaves like Bellis sylvestris, but quite thin and flaccid ; in this respect and in toothing 

 very different from any form of P. erosa, denticulata, or capitata. 



** Scape normally much longer than the leaves (except P. tibetica). 

 Flowers umbelled, rarely capitate, white pink or purple. Bracts forming a 

 1 -seriate involucre, gibbous or produced downwards at the base (obscurely in 

 P. concinna). \tr *\ 



t Capsule oblong or cylindric, usually longer than the narrow fruiting 

 calyx. 



15. P. farinosa, Linn. ; Duby in DC. Prodr. viii. 44 ; stolons 0, more 

 or less mealy, leaves -1 in., sessile or subsessile obovate-spathulate obtuse 



