16 History of Primula 



also the case of a peculiar claret-coloured, small-flowered form produced 

 by Mr Dickson, which is unlike any other variety I have met with. 

 This latter plant was the only one of its kind produced by a cross 

 alleged to have been made by P. obconica and P. rosea splendens. The 

 leaf of this plant also differs somewhat from the normal though it is 

 quite like that of some of the wild specimens preserved in the Herbarium 

 at Kew. The whorled character of the inflorescence, also, which has 

 been developed in the variety "Chenies excelsior," cannot be accepted 

 as an indication of hybridisation with P. japonica since it may occur in 

 uncrossed plants. 



The evidence for hybridisation in P. obconica cannot therefore be 

 regarded as convincing. A careful series of experiments have been 

 conducted at the John Innes Horticultural Institution at Merton in 

 which the pollen of eight species of Primula has been tried. The 

 results so far obtained tend to show that good seed has been produced 

 only with the pollen of P. obconica itself all other crosses being failures, 

 and this corresponds with the results of similar experiments made at 

 Kew. It is just possible however in view of the conflicting evidence 

 that further careful experiment might demonstrate some form of 

 hybridisation for it may be, as Doncaster^ suggests in dealing with the 

 question of crossing between species, that the multiplicity of characters 

 concerned makes analysis very difficult and thus the evidence of 

 hybridisation may not be apparent. 



It has been pointed out above that the difficulty of producing 

 artificial hybrids in the genus Primula is somewhat remarkable in 

 view of the fact that natural hybrids are not uncommon between 

 certain species. Whether any natural hybrid between P. obconica 

 and any other species exists is not certainly known but a specimen 

 preserved in the Kew Herbarium collected by Wilson (no. 4052) in 

 Western China suggests such a possibility. Mr J. F. Duthie who has 

 kindly examined the plant is of the opinion that it may be a natural 

 hybrid between P. obconica and P. cortusoides ; and in this connection 

 it is of considerable interest to find that a plant (or plants ?) of P. cor- 

 tusoides came up with the seed of P. obconica collected by Maries in 

 Ichang, the specimen being preserved at Kew. Mr Duthie says of 

 Wilson's plant — "It agrees with the former (P. cortusoides) in the 

 shape, texture and pubescence of the leaves, but the calyx is that of 

 P. obconica." 



In its native home P. obconica appears to show a considerable range 

 1 L. Doncaster, Heredity, Cambridge University Press, 1910, Chap. viii. p. 109. 



