ON THE PRIMULAS 301 



not of the varieties, is procurable. Sikkimensis, which 

 grows about eighteen inches high, and blooms in sum- 

 mer, has pale yellow flowers ; it is illustrated in the 

 Botanical Magazine, t. 4597. Viscosa (villosa), illustrated 

 in \^Q, Botanical Magazine y t. 14, is an Alpine species with 

 rosy-purple, white-eyed flowers, and grows only three 

 or four inches high. Sieboldii, a splendid Japanese 

 species with rose and white flowers, grows about a foot 

 high, and blooms in April ; several varieties are sold 

 under names, such as Alba magnifica^ large white-fringed 

 flowers ; Beauty of Sale, white, edged with rose ; Dis- 

 tinction, white, shaded rose ; Fascination, white, lavender 

 exterior, fringed ; Grandiflora, creamy white and rose ; 

 Harry Leigh, lilac, with white eye ; Lilacina superba, 

 lilac ; Magenta Queen, magenta ; and Violacea, violet. 

 Seed of the type is procurable. 



Greenhouse Primulas. Sieboldii and its varieties are 

 nominally hardy, but they are apt to die out in winter, 

 and they are generally grown in pots for greenhouse 

 decoration, like the Chinese Primula (varieties of sinensis)\ 

 the Star Primula (stellatd) ; the lilac obcomca, a free- 

 growing, free-blooming plant admirably adapted for 

 amateurs, but with the unpleasant peculiarity of causing 

 a painful rash on the hands of many people who handle 

 it ungloved ; and such minor but still beautiful sorts 

 as floribunda, yellow ; Forbesii, lilac, with yellow eye ; 

 and kewensis } a yellow hybrid raised by crossing floribunda 

 and verticillata. The beautiful fringed Chinese Primulas 

 are splendid plants for blooming in warm greenhouses 

 in winter, and are of the easiest culture, coming readily 

 from seed sown for succession in late spring and sum- 

 mer. They are purchasable in mixture or in separate 

 colours. Every seedsman of any standing specialises 



