468 



PRIMULACE.E. Primula. 



2. PRIMULA, Liiin. Puimuose. 



Cttlyx 5-cleft. Corulla cominuiily salvorfurm, enlarging nioro or less just aLovo 

 tlio insortiun ol" tlio alann'iia ; tliu lijnb 5-partoil ; lobes ubuvato, or oliconlalu. Stamens 

 incliuleil, tlibtinct. SLiguia cai)itato, iloi)ru»bed. Capbulo ovoiil, 5-valvud at summit, 

 the valves again usually li-clel't. Seeds very numerous on the largo central placenta. 

 — Perennial herbs ; with clustered leaves at the root or rootstock, and simple 

 scapes bearing solitary or usually an umbel of several handsome flowers. 



Primroses, Cowslips, and Auriculas of the gardens are Old World representatives of this genus. 

 In California only one indigenous species has been detected, but that is a new and charming 

 accession to the genus, viz., 



1. P. Buffrutescens, Gray. Glabrous: leaves thick and rather coriaceous, 

 cuneatespalulate, coarsely toothed at the apex, jjcrsistent and crowded on lirm and 

 rather Ueshy-ligneous creeping and densely matted rootstocks : scape 3 - 7-flowered : 

 involucre of a few short and subulate bracts : calyx campanulate, minutely glan- 

 dular-puberulent, deeply 5-cleft : corolla deep maroon-purple with a yellowish eye ; 

 its tube longer than the calyx, but hardly longer than the obovate-emarginate or 

 obcordate lobes. — Proc. A)n. Acad. vii. 371. 



On exposed rocks of tho Sierra Nevmln, at tlio elevation of 9,000 to 11,000 feet ; above the 

 Yo.seniilo Valley, Uruhjcs {who fir.st drscoveri'd it), Muir, ic. Silver Mountain, iiMUctr, Mt. 

 Stanford, Bolamhr, Kdltnjij. Tho thick nnilted rootstocks liU the crevices of rocks, and are 

 more creeping than in any other species. Leaves an inch long, or rather more. Scape 3 or 4 

 inches high. Corolla fully two thirds of an inch in diameter. 



3. ANDROSACE, Tourn. 

 Calyx 5-cleft. Corolla short-salver-shaped or almost rotate ; the tube shorter than 

 the calyx; throat commonly constricted; the small limb 5-parted. Stamens and 

 short style included. Capsule 5-valved, few - many-seeded. — Very small or deli- 

 cate herbs ; with clustered leaves, and small umbellate or sometimes solitary flowers, 

 usually on a scape : corolla white or nearly so. 



Jfainly an aljiino or .sub.ilpino f^'cnns, chiefly of tho Old World ; no species yet detected in Cali- 

 fornia or on its immediate borders ; but the two following may be expected at the north. 



A. SEiTENTRioNALi.s, I.iiiu. : a barely pulierulcnt annual or biennial, with an open tuft of 

 lanceolate or oblong radicul haves, fntni which are sent up numerous liliform scapes, an inch to a 

 spaa high, bearing"i loose umbel of .several flowers, on lonj,' lilifoini pedicels : caly.K-lobcs ovate- 

 Kubulato, green, ennalling tlic very small corolla. — Mountains of Nevada and northward to tho 

 arctic regions, and in the Old World. 



A. Fii.lFouMis, Eetz, is similar, but glabrous, with broader leaves, and ovate and bluntish 

 more membranaceous calyx-lobes shorter than tho corolla ; this, as in the preceding, only a line or 

 so in diameter. — Occurs in the mountains of the southwestern part of Oregon, as well as in the 

 Rocky Mountains ; also Northern Asia. 



4. TRIENTALIS, Liim. Star-floweu. 

 Calyx and wheel-shaped corolla 7-parted, sometiraes G - 9-parted, widely spread- 

 ing from tho very base. Filaments slender, spreading, united in a ring at the base : 

 anthers oblong, revolnto after discharging tho ludlon. Style liliform : stignm small. 

 Cap.sule at length splitting into 5 valves, few-seeded. — Low and glabrous perenidals ; 

 with filiform tuberiferous rootstocks, sending up simple stems, which bear alternate 

 scales or sometimes small leaves below, and a whorl of fully developed leaves at 

 the summit, in their axils slender peduncles supporting a star-shaped white flower. 



The Atlantic States have a peculiar species, T. Americana, Pursh, with long lanceolate leaves 

 tapering to both ends, and grailually acuminate divisions to the corolla. The Pacihc States have 

 only forms of the Old World species. 



