THE PRIMROSE FAMILY. 453 



of Primula merge into each other, and seem to possess an apti- 

 tude for hybridising. P. variabilis, a French wilding found in 

 the environs of Grenoble and Nancy, is supposed to be a nat- 

 ural hybrid between P. officinalis and P. grandiflora of Grenier 

 and Godron. M. Lecoq succeeded in raising a white Polyan- 

 thus by crossing a pale Oxlip with a white form of P. (acaulis] 

 vulgar is, but failed to cross the Auricula with the last-named 

 species. 



In the December number of the ' Revue des Sciences Natu- 

 relles/ 1875, is a snort paper by D. A. Godron, on fertilisation 

 of flowers by Hymenoptera. Near Nancy it is found that the 

 hybrid Primula (P. variabilis] produced by the fertilisation of 

 Primula grandiflora with pollen of P. officinalis results from the 

 intervention of bees, but the converse hybrid does not occur. 

 M. Godron published an account of this in 1844. The reason 

 for the non-occurrence of the second hybrid is that P. grandi- 

 flora flowers earlier in this locality than P. officinalis. M. God- 

 ron was able to produce the hybrid P. grandiflora-officinalis 

 artificially, but never saw it as a natural product till March 

 1874, when it was brought to him from a locality two kilo- 

 metres distant from the first. On investigation it was found 

 that only P. officinalis grew at this spot, and that owing to situ- 

 ation and surroundings it flowered much earlier than in the 

 other locality; but the hybridisation could only be effected by the 

 carrying of the pollen of P. grandiflora two kilometres by bees. 



P. Auricula (Auriculas). The Auricula is the only Alpine 

 plant which has become popular as a florist's flower. Prof. 

 Kerner (see ( Die Geschichte der Aurikel ') has traced the his- 

 tory of this plant from the time of L'Ecluse (Clusius), who first 

 transplanted Primula Auricula, and the natural hybrid P. 

 pubescens, Jacq., from the Tyrolese Alps to Belgium in 1582. 

 The latter plant, and not the true P. Auricula, L., is believed by 

 Prof. Kerner to be the real ancestor of the cultivated Auricula. 

 In the time of Clusius both plants were known as " Auricula 

 Ursi I." and " Auricula Ursi II." or " Bear's Ears." The hybrid 

 P. pubescens, which had been lost from the German and Aus- 

 trian Alps for nearly three centuries, was found in a single 

 locality in the Tyrol by Prof. Kerner in 1867. These favourite 

 florists' flowers are propagated from offsets or by seed. The 

 side-growths of any desirable variety root freely in the spring or 

 summer, taken off and treated like cuttings in a close frame. 

 These can be taken from the plants at any time when they are 

 moving, as the florists say, or making growth. Some varieties 

 will produce several offsets, and do not appear to be weakened 

 by the process, while other varieties produce offsets very spar- 



