P R I 



P R I 



paler, underneath, very fragrant. It is a native 

 of Europe, flowering in April and May, 



The varieties are the Common Single Yellow 

 Cowslip : Double Yellow Cowslip : Scarlet Cow- 

 slip; and Hose, and Hose Cowslip. 



The frairrant flowers of these plants make a 

 pleasant wine, approaching in liavour to the 

 muscadel wines of the South of France. It is com- 

 monly supposed to possess a somniferous quality, 

 'llie fourtii species has a perennial root, some- 

 what prsemorse, with numerous, long, per- 

 pendicular lihres, and sweet-scented : the leaves 

 obo\ate-lanceolate, bright green, smooth and 

 even, thickish, here and there turned back on 

 the edges, underneath vemed and powdered 

 with while meal : the scape a hand's-breadth or 

 span in height, far exceeding the leaves, round, 

 upright, stiif and straight, of a pale green co- 

 lour and mealy : the flowers sweet-scented, of 

 a purple yellow colour, in an upright umbel, 

 having at its base a many-leaved involucre, each 

 leaflet of which is awl-shaped, and placed at 

 the base of each peduncle. It is an elegant 

 plant; is a native of many parts of Europe, 

 flowering in July and August. 



It varies in the size of the plant, having been 

 found wild a foot and half in height, and in 

 the cultivated plant a tendency to become vivi- 

 parous, has been observed by Curtis, or to produce 

 one or more tufts of leaves among the flowers 

 of the umbel. In its wild state it seeds readily, 

 and frequently when cultivated : the flowers 

 also vary with different shades of purple, and 

 have been found entirely white. 



The fifth bears a great affinity to the fourth, 

 but the leaves diflcr in form, colour, and mode 

 of growth ; when fully grown being twice the 

 length of those of the other: they are not 

 rnealy, the under side being as green as the 

 upper, and they have a greater tendency to grow 

 upright : the scape is shorter and thicker : the 

 flowers form a similar umbel, but each is 

 smaller, and in point of colour much less bril- 

 liant. Upon the whole, though superior ia 

 size, it is inferior to that in beauty. It flowers 

 early in May. 



The sixth species, in the wrinkled appearance 

 of iis foliage, approaches the first sort ; whilst 

 in its inflorescence, the colour of its (lowers, 

 and solitary scape, which rises to an unusual 

 height, it bears an aftiuity to the fourth. In 

 the winter it loses the leaves entirely, and 

 forms a sort of bulbous hybcrnacle under ground: 

 this circumstance is necessary to be known, as 

 it subjects the plant to be thrown away as dead. 

 It flowers in June and July ; and is a native of 

 Siberia. 



The seventh, in its farinaceous tendencv, ac- 

 7 



cords with tlie eighth sort, but is very unlike it 

 in its wild slate, the leaves being much nar- 

 rower : the flowers larger, and of a difierent 

 colour : the colour of the flowers approaches 

 to ihai of lilac : it becomes mealv, particu- 

 larly on tiic edges of the leaves, between tlie 

 serralures, where it is so strong as to make the 

 leaf appear with a white or silvery edge. It is 

 a delicate pretty plant, with a pleasing musky 

 smell, and flowers in March and April. It is 

 probably a native of the Alps. 



The eighth species has the leaves fleshy, suc- 

 culent, with the edges mealy, serrated ; or en- 

 tire, according to some — deeply and equally 

 toothed all round, as others affirm ; while some 

 say that the young leaves are entire : the adult 

 ones serrate above the middle : the petioles leafy 

 or winged : the leaflets of the involucre unequal, 

 wide, lanceolate or blunt : the flowers very 

 sweet, four or five, in an uprighi umbel : the 

 calyx one-third of the length of the tube of the 

 corolla, bell-shaped, toothetl, mealy, as is also 

 the scape : the tube of the corolla gradually 

 widening upwards, not contracted at the neck : 

 the border concave : the segments emarginate 

 but not deeply, and not cut to the neck : the 

 most common colours are yeiilow or red, but it 

 IS found also purple and variegated, with a white 

 tye powdered with meal : capsule spherical or 

 ne;\rly so, flatted a htlle at top, of a coriaceous- 

 cartilaginous substance, sprinkled with meal. 

 It is a native of the mountains of Switzerland, 

 Austria, &c., flowering in April and May. 



It varies much in the leaves and flowers; as 

 the oblong-leaved ; roundish-leaved ; broad- 

 leaved ; narrow-leaved ; green-leaved ; white- or 

 meal-leaved ; the purple-flowered, of various 

 shades and variegations ; red-flowered, with dif- 

 ferent shades and variegations; yellow-flowered, 

 of different shades ; double purple-flowered ; dou- 

 ble yellow-flowered ; variegated purples, &c. 



With regard to the properties of a fine auri- 

 cula, they are these according to Marlyn : " The 

 stem should be strong, upright, and of such a 

 height as that the umbel of flowers may be 

 above the foliage of the plant : the peduncles 

 or footstalks of the flowers should also be strong:, 

 and of a length proportional to the size and 

 quantity of the flowers ; which should not be 

 less than seven in number, that the umbel may 

 be regular and close : the tube, eve, and border 

 should be well proportioned ; which they will 

 be, if the diameter of the first be one part, of 

 the eye three, and the whole border six jiarts or 

 thereabouts : the circumference of the border 

 shoidd be round or nearly so, or at least not 

 what is called starry : the anthers ousjht to he 

 large, bold, and fill the tube well ; and the tube 



