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NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:9— Dec, 1916 



The primrose {Primula acaulis Linn.) blooms in April and is 

 referred to in the following quotation from Two Noble Kinsman : 

 "Primrose, first child of Ver: 

 Merry spring-time's harbinger. 

 With her bells dim." 



The German name for this flower is Schussel Blumen — the key- 

 flower, — evidently also emphasizing the thought of its being the 

 earliest spring flower. 



In The Winter's Tale IV — 4 — 122, we read: 

 "Pale primroses 

 That die unmarried ere they can behold 

 Bright Phoebus in his strength." 



Again, 



And 



"Thou shalt not lack 

 The flower that's like thy face, pale primrose." 



— Cymbeline IV — 2 — 120. 



"Where you and I 



. Upon faint primrose beds were wont to lie." 



Midsummer Nights Dream 1 — 1 — 214. 



The cowslip blooms in latter part of April and continues in May. 



It is Primula veris (Linn) . No satis- 

 factory explanation of the origin of 

 the common name has been given. 

 The flowers grow in profusion in 

 the meadows and are much beloved 

 today by the English people, as 

 doubtless they were in Shakespeare's 

 day. We find these careful descrip- 

 tions : 



"The freckled cowslip. ' ' — Herny V. 2 — 40. 

 "Cinque-spotted, like the crimson drops. 

 I' the bottom of a cowslip." 



Cymbeline II — 2 — 37. 



"The cowslips tall her pensioners be; 

 In their gold coats spots you see; 

 These be rubies, fairy favours." 

 Midsummer Nights Dream II — 1 — 10. 



The oxlip — Primula elatior — bears 

 large primrose-like flowers on a 

 central stalk. The derivation of its name, too, seems uncer- 

 tain. Shakespeare refers to the flower in the following : 



Oxlip 



