1434 



PRIMULA 



PRIMULA 



long-obconic, hairy, the segments well separated and 

 broadly obcordate; calyx small, not inflated. China. 

 G.C. III. 1:574.— A most odd species, with vinca-like fls. 



7. Vernales. 

 This is a group of spring-flowering plants to which 

 the polyanthus and the true cowslip belong. They are 

 much varied and hybridized, and the botany of them is 

 therefore much confused. What Linnaeus called P. verts 

 (meaning the vernal or spring Primula) is now dismem- 

 bered into P. officinalis, P. elatior and P. vulgaris. 



1957. Primula officinalis (X M)- 



A. Scape strong and projecting above the Ivs., bearing 

 an umbel. 

 B. Fls. small, the limb of the corolla concave or cup- 

 like. 



13. officinMis, Jacq. Cowslip. Fig. 1957. Stemless, 

 minutely soft-pubescent: Ivs. oval or oblong, abruptly 

 contracted or subcordate at the base, the petiole winged, 

 the limb unevenly denticulate or sometimes erose : scape 

 6-12 in. tall, bearing about (5-12 fls. in a close umbel, all 

 the fls. pointing or drooping to one side: fls. bright light 

 yellow, the tube about the length of the half-acute lobes 

 of the loose large calyx, the limb expanding little be- 

 yond the bulge of the calyx (about }^-% in. across). 

 Central and northern Europe, and long in cultivation. 



BB. Fls. larger, opening wide and nearly flat. 



14. eld,tior, Jacq. Oxlip. Very like the last, but the 

 expanded fls. twice broader, and the calyx narrow (not 

 inflate<l) and with acuminate lobes: usually somewhat 

 taller: Ivs. very rugose. Europe, particularly in moun- 

 tains and in the northern parts. 



AA. Scape risually .short or almost none, the umbels 

 therefore borne in the foliage a^id the fls. standing 

 singly on the long rays {exceptions in No. 16). 



15. vulgaris, Huds. (P. acauUs, Jacq.). Primrose. 

 Leaves many, tufted, sessile or tapering to a narrow 

 base, long oblong-obovate and obtuse (6-9 in. long), ru- 

 gose, irregularly shallow-toothed and denticulate: fls. 1 

 in. or more across, pale yellow, the limb flat, usually 

 not equaling the leaves, borne on long, slender pedicels; 

 calyx not inflated, the lobes acute or acuminate. There 

 are double-fld. forms. B.M. 229. Gn. 29, p. 385. R.H. 

 1880:90. — Var. caulescens, an occasional state, has some 

 of the scapes more or less prolonged. Europe, widely 



distributed. For pictures of various forms of P. vul- 

 garis, see Gn. 54:1184 and pp. 142, 143; 7, pp. 319, 345; 

 11, p. 127; 12:101. A.F. 13:1102. Gng. 6:245. R.H. 

 1898:12. 



16. Polydntha, Hort. Polyanthus. Figs. 1950, 1958, 

 1959. A garden group supposed to be hybrids of P. offici- 

 nalis or P. elatior and P. vulgaris, although many bota- 

 nists refer it to P. elatior direct. Some consider it to be 

 adirect development of P. vulgaris. Whatever its origin, 

 the group is distinct for garden purposes, and it is the 

 commonest form of hardy Primula known in American 

 gardens. The fls. are several to many in an erect umbel 

 terminating a scape that usually stands well above the 

 long Ivs. ; the colors are mostly yellow and red-and-yellow. 

 There is a form with one corolla inside the other, known 

 as Duplex or Hose-in-Hose. The Polyanthus is perfectly 

 hardy, blooming in earliest spring. Prop, usually by 

 division. P. variabilis, as used in horticultural litera- 

 ture, usually refers to this Polyanthus group or to plants 

 of similar origin. 



8. Capitate. 



17. denticul^ta, Smith. Scapes 4-18 in. tall, bearing 

 a dense umbel or head of pale purple fls. : Ivs. in a 

 rosette on the crown, usually not full grown until the 

 flowers are past, and surrounded beneath by short, 

 broad, thick, leaf-like bracts; leaf -blades oblong-obovate 

 or spatulate, usually narrowed into a winged stalk, 

 sharply denticulate, more or less mealy: corclla-tube 

 about twice as long as the calyx-teeth, the corolla-lobes 

 obcordate. Himalaya region, 7,000 to 13,000 ft., and said 

 by Hooker to be "the commonest Himalayan Primula, 

 and very variable." B.M. 3959. B.R. 28:47. Gn. 11, 

 p. 127; 29, p. .382; 35, p. 529; 41, p. 588. -A hardy plant, 

 usually treated as a rockwork subject. Blooms in 

 earliest spring. Var. purpiirea, Hort., has dark purple 

 fls. Var. dlba, Hort., has white fls. Gn. 50, p. 372. Var. 

 pulch6rrima, Hort., is very robust, with deep purple fls. 

 in dense heads. 



Var. Cacheinirid,na, Hook. f. (P. Cachemiridna, 

 Munro. P. Cashtneridna, Hort.). Lvs. nearly or 

 quite full grown when the fls. are in bloom, usually 

 more mealy (yellow-mealy beneath and sometimes on 

 top): fls. rich purple with yellow center. Western 

 Himalayan region. R.H. 1880:330. P. Sibirica, var. 

 Kaahmiriana (B.M. 6493) is a different plant. See 

 No. 24. 



18. capit&ta, Hook. Much like P. denticulata, but 

 lvs. appearing with the fls. and the fleshy leaf-bracts 

 few or none: according to Hooker, it "has finely den- 

 ticulate leaves, often snow-white with meal beneath, 

 but sometimes not so; a tall also mealy scape and 

 globose densely crowded head of sessile flowers which 

 open slowly, and the uppermost unexpanded ones are 

 depressed and imbricate over one another like the tiles 

 of a house. The corolla is of very deep purple-blue, the 

 tube and calyx both short." Eastern Himalaya. B.M. 

 4.550, C916 B. F.S. 6:618. Gn. 16:210; 29, p.' 382; 

 45, p. 503; 50, p. 373; 54, p. 467. J.H. III. 32:209. 



19. erdsa, Wall. (P. capitdta, var. crispa, Hort. P. 

 denticuldta, var. erdsa, Duby). Differs from P. dentic- 

 ulata, according to Hooker, "in its much slenderer 

 habit, in always (except on young parts) wanting tne 

 meal on the leaves, which are developed at flowering 

 time, are translucent with strongly erose and denticu- 

 late margins, and have a strongly reticulated surface, 

 and the petioles are often red; the umbels are loose or 

 dense-flowered, and the flowers in our garden speci- 

 mens are of a far deeper ymrple than is usual in P. den- 

 ticulata." Hooker says that the lvs. are sometimes 18 

 in. long. Temperate Himalaya. B.M. 6916A.— This name 

 does not appear in the Amer. trade, but the species is 

 very likely to pass as P. denticulata or P. capitata. 



9. AURTCULAT^. 



20. auriculata, Lam. (P. longifolia. Curt.). Scapes 

 4-10 in. tall, from a rosette of oblong-obovate smooth 

 irregularly denticulate lvs.: fls. in a rounded head or 

 umbel, purplish, with a whitish eye, the tube 1 in. or 

 more long and much exceeding the calyx, the involu- 

 cral scales more or less auriculate. Mts. of Greece to 

 Persia. B.M. 392. 



