644 PRIMULACEAE (PRIMROSE FAMILY) 



1. PRIMULA L. Primrose. Cowslip 



Calyx tubular, angled, 5-cleft. Corolla enlarging above the insertion of the 

 stamens ; the 5 lobes often notched or inversely heart-shaped. Capsule many- 

 seeded, splitting at the top into 5 valves or 10 teeth. — Low perennial herbs, 

 with tufted and simple scapes, the flowers in an umbel. (Name a diminutive of 

 primus, from the flowering of the true primrose in early spring.) 



1. P. farinbsa L. (Bird's-eye P.) Scape 0.5-3 dm. high ; leaves oblanceo- 

 late to narrowly obovate, denticulate, 1.5-6 cm. long, the lovjer side and the 

 l-20-flov7ered involucre^ etc., covered with a I'jhite mealiness, at least when 

 young; involucral bracts lance-attenuate, 3.5-G mm. long; pedicels in anthesis 

 mostly shorter than the calyx, in fruit becoming slightly longer ; calyx 3-5 mm. 

 long; corolla pale lilac, with a yellow eye, its tube barely exserted; capsule 

 6-8 mm. long, slightly exserted. — Nfd. and Lab. to n. Mich. (Eurasia.) Var. 

 AMKRiCAXA Torr. Similar; leaves narrow, stiff, 2-6 cm. long, sulphur-yellow 

 beneath ; pedicels elongate, often 2-5 times as long as the calyx ; capsule much 

 exserted. — Shores of L. Huron and L. Michigan. 



Var. macr6poda Fernald. Scape 1-4.5 dm. high ; leaves spatulate to rhom- 

 bic-ovate, long-petioled, 2.5-10 cm. long, usually whitened beneath; bracts 

 involute in drjing, 6-11 mm. long; pedicels usually elongate, 1-5 cm. long; 

 calyx in anthesis 6-8 mm. long ; capsule 9-12 mm. long, exserted. — Calcareous 

 cliffs and shores. Lab. to Mackenzie, s. to N. S., Me., and Sask. 



2. P. mistassinica Michx. Scape 0.5-2 dm. high ; leaves spatulate or wedge- 

 oblong, thin and veiny, scarcely or not at all mealy, 1-4 cm. long; involucre 

 l-8-flo\vered, the lance-subulate bracts 2-4 mm. long; pedicels filiform, in 

 anthesis mostly exceeding the calyx, loosely a.scending, in fruit much elongate ; 

 calyx 3-5 mm. long ; corolla flesh-color (rarely white), its tube conspicuously 

 exserted; capsule 5-8 mm. long. — Wet calcareous banks and shores, Nfd. to 

 Sask., s. to N. B., Me., Vt., N. Y., Mich., Wise, and Minn. May-July. 



2. ANDROSACE [Tourn.] L. 



Calyx 5-cleft ; tube short. Corolla salver-shaped or funnel-form ; the tube 

 shorter than the calyx ; limb 5-parted. Capsule 5-valved. — Small herbs, with 

 clustered root-leaves, and very small solitary or umbeled flowers, (An ancient 

 Greek name of a polyp, formerly believed to be a plant.) 



1. A. occidentalis Pursh. Sinoothish annual ; scapes diffuse, 2-8 cm. high, 

 several-flowered ; leaves and bracts of the involucre oblong-ovate, entire, ses- 

 sile ; calyx-lobes leafy, triangular-lanceolate, longer than the white corolla. — 

 Bare hills and barrens. 111. to Man., and westw. Apr., May. 



3. H0TT6nIA [Boerh.] L. Featherfoil. Water Violet 



Calyx 5-parted, the divisions linear. Corolla with a short tube ; limb 5-parted. 

 Stamens 5, included. Capsule many-seeded, 5-valved ; the valves cohering at 

 the base and summit. Seeds anatropous. — Perennials, with the erect hollow 

 flower-sterns ahnost leafless. Flowers white or whitish, whorled at the joints, 

 forming an interrupted raceme. (Named for Peter Hotton, early Dutch 

 botanist.) 



1. H. inflata Ell. Leaves dissected into thread-like divisions, scattered on 

 the floathig and rooting stems, and crowded at the base of the cluster of 

 peduncles, which are strongly inflated between the joints; pedicels short. — ■ 

 Pools and ditches, s. Me. to Fla. and La., near the coast; inland in the Miss, 

 basin to Mo. and Ind, May-Aug. 



4. SAMOLUS [Tourn.] L. Wati;i! Pimpernel. Brook-weed 



Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla somewhat bcll-slmiied, 5-cleft. True stamens 5, on 

 the cnri»lla-tube. included. Cap.sule globose, 5-valved at the summit, many- 

 seeded. — Smooth herbs, with alternate entire leaves, and small white flowers 



