990 THE KINDS OF PLANTS 



F. Americana, Linn. White ash. Forest tree, 40-80 ft., with rough, 

 blackish bark, and gray, smooth branches: leaflets 5-9, ovate or lance-oblong 

 and acuminate, entire or sparingly serrate, pale or downy beneath, smooth 

 above, the lateral leaflets stalked: flowers mostly dia?cious, apetalous: calyx 

 present in fertile flowers, and persistent: fruit with lanceolate wing at apex, 

 base nearly cylindrical, the key l}^-2 in. long. 



F. pub6scens, Lam. Ked ash. A smaller tree than the white ash: young 

 shoots and leaf petioles and lower leaf surfaces velvety -pubescent: calyx 

 persistent on fertile flowers: fruit narrow, flattened at base, the edges dilated 

 into the oblanceolate wing. 



F. excelsior, Linn. European ash, often planted: leaflets 9-13, ovate- 

 lanceolate or oblong, acute, serrate: fruit oblong, often notched at end. 



XLV. PRIMULACE^. Primrose Family. 



Low herbs with leaves radical or opposite: flowers perfect, regu- 

 lar, 5 parted, monopetalous: stamens 5, inserted in corolla-tube, each 

 opposite a lobe: style and stigma 1: ovary 1-celled, superior, with 

 three central placentae. About 300 species in sonae 25 genera. 



A. Plants with all leaves basal: flowers on a scape. 



B. Corolla-lobes spreading 1. Primula 



BB. Corolla-lobes reflexed. 



C. Several fls. on the scape: stamens protruding 2. Dodecathi'on 



cc. One flower on the scape: stamens included 3. Cyclamen 



AA. Plants with leafy stems 4. Lysimachia 



L PElMULA. Primrose. Cowslip (of England). Auricula. 



Low perennial herbs, with radical leaves: flowers in an involucrate 

 umbel in most species, terminal on a scape: calyx 5-cleft: corolla salver- 

 sliaped, with 5 spreading lobes, entire or notched: stamens 5, with short 

 filaments included in corolla-tube, often of different lengths: capsules 

 ovoid, opening by valves or teeth at the top. Native species rare, but a 

 number of exotic primroses are much cultivated. 



P. Sinensis, Sabine. Downy greenhouse plant: flowers in umbels, large . 

 and showy, of different colors, single or double: calyx large and inflated: 

 leaves cordate, 7-9-lobed, on long petioles. China. 



P. obc6nica, Hance. Leaves ovate-cordate: scapes a foot high, bearijig 

 pink, purplish or whitish flowers in large clusters, the petals obconical and 

 notched at the end: tube twice longer than the shallow-spreading calyx. 

 The hairs on this plant are poisonous to some persons. Greenhouses. China. 



P. Fdrbesi, Franch. Bahy primrose. Scapes many and very slender, 

 6-12 in., loosely hairy, bearing small lilac or rose flowers in successive 

 whorls on slender pedicels: leaves small and crowded at the crown, oblong, 

 somewhat sinuate-toothed. Greenhouses. China. 



P. Poly^ntha, Hort. Polyanthus. Hardy Primulas, grown in borders foi 



