Primula.] PR1MULACEJE. 261 



1. PRIMULA, I. 



Seapigerous, perennial herbs. Flowers in involucrate nrnbels, white 

 yellow rose, or purple, honeyed. Calyx 5-toothed or -fid. Corolla funnel- 

 or salver-shaped, throat naked or with 5 swellings ; lobes 5, incurved or 

 spreading. Stamens 5, included. Ovary ovoid or globose ; style filiform, 

 stigma capitate; ovules many, amphitropous. Capsule 5-valved at the 

 top, many-seeded, valves simple or 2-fid. Seeds plano-convex, peltate. 

 — Disteib. Of the Order ; species about 80. — Etym. primus, from flower- 

 ing early. —Flowers usually dimorphic, having long styles with anthers 

 deep in the tube, or the reverse. 



* Leaves not mealy beneath, wrinkled and toothed. Calyx-tube 5-angled. 



1. P. vulga'ris, Huds. ; leaves and umbels subsessile, flowers spreading 

 or suberect, calyx-teeth acuminate, corol'a pale yellow, limb flat, threat 



• contracted with thickened folds. P. acau'lis, L. Primrose. 



Copses, pastures, and hedgebanks, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 1,600 ft. in 

 Yorkshire ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. April-May. — Rootstock stout. 

 Leaves 3-6 in., obovate-spathulate, beneath and inflorescence softly hairy. 

 Umbels so sessile that the pedicels resemble scapes, which are about as long 

 as the leaves; bracts linear. Calyx ^-§ in., a little inflated, 5-angled. 

 Corolla 1-1| in., rarely white lilac or purplish, greenish when dry ; lobes 

 orbicular, notched. Capside as long as the calyx-tube, ovoid, on prostrate 

 pedicels. — Distjrib. Europe, except the N.E.; 1ST. Africa. — Varies in the 

 inflorescence being sessile (P. acau'lis, Jacq.) or a peduncled umbel (vara. 

 caules'cens and interme'dia), if these be not hybrids, as suggested by Baker 

 (see P. ve'ris). The origin of the Polyanthus. — Rootstock emetic. 



2. P. ela'tior, Jacq. ; petioles winged, umbels peduncled, flowers hori- 

 zontal or drooping, calyx-teeth acuminate, corolla pale yellow, limb 

 concave, throat open without folds. Oxlip. 



Copses and meadows in Bedford, Suffolk, Cambridge, Essex ; fl. April-May. — 

 Intermediate between P. vulgaris and veris, differing from the former in the 

 less inflated calyx, shorter pedicels, inodorous flowers, and capsule longer 

 than the calyx-tube ; it hence resembles hybrids between P. veris and offici- 

 nalis, but differs from those by the more villous calyx, paler flowers, and 

 absence of folds at the mouth of the corolla. — Dibtrib. From Gothland 

 southd. (excl. Greece, Turkey), Siberia. 



3. P. ve'ris, L. ; petioles winged, umbels peduncled, flowers drooping, 

 calyx-teeth obtuse, corolla buff-yellow funnel-shaped, limb much cupped, 

 throat opened with obscure folds. P. officinalis, Jacq. Cowslip, Paigle. 

 Meadows, pastures, and hedgebanks, from Caithness southd. ; rare in Scotland ; 



Ireland ; Channel Islands ; ascends to 1,600 ft. in Northumbd. ; fl. April- 

 May. — Besides the characters given above, P. ve'ris differs from P. ela'tior in 

 the short and often glandular pubescence of the shorter pedicels and 

 calyx ; odorous flowers ; much smaller corolla-limb ; and capsule much 

 shorter than the calyx-tube ; corolla rarely scarlet or orange-brown. — 

 Distrib. Europe, "W". Asia, N. Africa ?— Hybrids with P. vvlga'ris include 

 P. ela'tior of older English botanists, probably P. ve'ris, fi ela'tior, L., and P. 

 variabilis, Goupil, often taken for the Oxlip. 



