210 



PRIMULA. 



pastures in the counties of Caithness 

 and Sutherland, and also the Orkney 



Isles. The rock-garden, in moist 



sandy loam, in mossy spots, and in 

 pots or pans. Seed ; it frequently 

 comes up from self-sown seeds in 

 mossy places. 



Primula sikkimensis (SiJcTcim Cow- 

 slip}. Like a tall and noble Cowslip, 

 l^ to 2 ft. high. Flowers, in summer ; 

 pale yellow, nearly I in. long and 

 more than 4 in. across ; in large um- 

 bels sometimes containing more than 

 five dozen flowers each. Leaves, rough, 

 wrinkled, obovate-oblong, obtuse, 

 twice dentate, attenuated into a foot- 

 stalk of equal length. Sikkim, Hima- 

 layas. Moist deep soil, in the rock- 

 garden; and when plentiful enough it 

 should be tried as a border plant, and 

 also in rich moist soil near the mar- 

 gins of streams or ponds. Division. 



Primula Stuartii (Stuart's Primrose). 

 A vigorous, handsome, and very 

 rare Primrose, about 16 in. high. 

 Flowers, in summer ; rich golden yel- 

 low, numerous, in umbels ; stem mealy 

 at the top. Leaves, nearly 1 ft. long, 

 broadly - lanceolate, mealy below, 

 smooth above, and sharply serrated. 



Native of Northern India. The 



rock-garden, in good light and deep 

 soil. Till more plentiful it should be 

 given favourable positions in the lower 

 parts of the rock-garden, and where it 

 would not be liable to suffer from 

 strong cold winds. Division. 



Primula Veitchii (Veitch's Prim- 

 rose). P. cortusoides amcena, Hook. 

 A handsome plant, allied to P. cor- 

 tusoides, but distinct, and much lar- 

 ger and handsomer ; 8 to 12 in. high. 

 Flowers, in April and May ; fine deep 

 rose with white eye, but varying a 

 good deal, the white in some forms 

 spreading nearly over the petals, 1 to 

 If in. across, 6 to 10 in an umbel. 

 Leaves, ovate, the larger ones some- 

 what heart shaped at the base, coarsely 



and irregularly toothed, 2 to 3 in. 

 long, and 1 to more than 2 in. across, 

 sometimes larger when grown under 

 glass ; seed-vessel grooved ; seed 

 roundish, flattened. Root creeping. 

 Japan. As this plant is quite dis- 

 tinct, both in a botanical and horti- 

 cultural point of view, from P. cortu- 

 soides, I venture to name it after its 

 introducer, the late John Gould 



Veitch. In the rock-garden, on 



sheltered sunny places where the 

 plant will escape injury from winds, 

 and also in sheltered borders, and 

 among dwarf shrubs, etc., in light, 

 rich, sandy loam with leaf -mould. 

 Seed and division of established tufts. 



Primula veris (Cowslip). Our well- 

 known old friend of the early summer 

 meadows ; 4 in. to 1 ft. high. Flowers, 

 in spring and early summer; bright 

 yellow, in terminal umbels, hanging 

 more or less to one side. Leaves, gene- 

 rally smaller than those of the Prim- 

 rose, contracted immediately below 

 the broadest part, and thickly pubes- 

 cent with short stiff hairs. Europe 

 and Britain. The numerous va- 

 rieties of this plant, usually known as 

 Polyanthuses, and many of which may 

 be raised so easily from seed, are of 

 great beauty, and should be grown 

 abundantly, not only in beds in the 

 flower-garden, but naturalized in semi- 

 wild places. The Polyanthuses 



thrive best in a rich, light, and moist 

 soil, but do well in ordinary garden 

 earth. Division and seed. 



[The true, or Bardfield Oxlip (P. 

 elatior} is readily distinguished by its 

 funnel- (and not saucer-) shaped corolla, 

 which is also quite destitute of the 

 bosses which are present in the Prim- 

 rose and Cowslip. The common Ox- 

 lip (P. officinali-vulgaris} is a hybrid 

 from P. vulgaris and P. officinalis, 

 and differs from P. elatior in having 

 larger flowers on much longer pedicels, 

 triangular calyx -teeth, the limb of the 



