222 



HARDY PERENNIALS AND 



sometimes given to plants of unquestionable hardiness, and they 

 stood the winters as well as their kindred species our common 

 Cowslip. It was also said to be not more than biennial, as if it 

 were a plant too good to be without some fatal fault for our 

 climate. However, I can say emphatically that it is more than 

 Tbiennial, as the specimens from which the drawing (Fig. 78) is 

 taken are three years old. Several correspondents have written 

 me stating that their plants are dead. That has been during 



FIG. 78. PRIMULA SIKKIMENSIS. 

 (Plant, one-sixth natural size ; a, blossom, two-thirds natural size.) 



their season of dormancy, but in every case they have pushed at 

 the proper time. I may as well here explain, though somewhat 

 out of order, a peculiarity in reference to the roots of this species : 

 it^ dies down in early autumn, and the crown seems to retire 

 .within the ball of its roots, which are a matted mass of fibres, and 

 not only does it seem to retire, but also to dwindle, so that any- 

 one, with a suspicion, who might be seeking for the vital part, 

 might easily be misled by such appearances, which are further 

 added to by the fact that the species does not start into growth 

 until a late date compared with others of the genus. So peculiar 



