PRIMULACEjE. 



Nat. syst. ed. 2. p. 223. 



CYCLAMEN. 



Calyx divided half way into 5 ovate segments, permanent. 

 Corolla wheel-shaped ; tube nearly globular, twice as long as 

 the calyx, deflexed ; limb many times longer than the tube, re- 

 flexed upwards, in 5 deep, lanceolate, oblique, equal segments ; 

 mouth open, naked, prominent at the circumference. Filaments 

 very short, in the tube ; anthers straight, acute, converging, 

 in the mouth of the corolla. Style cylindrical, straight, 

 rather longer than the tips of the anthers; stigma simple. 

 Capsule globose, of 1 cell, opening at the top with 5 parallel 

 teeth, the inside lined with pulp. Seeds numerous, somewhat 

 ovate, angular, covering a central, roundish-ovate, stalked, un- 

 connected receptacle. Smith. 



788. C. hedenefolium Willd. sp. pl.\. 810. Eng.FL i. 273.- 

 C. europaeum Eng. Bot. t. 548. Groves and fields in the 

 southern parts of Europe. (Sow Bread.) 



Root globular, brown, sending out many branched fibres. Leaves 

 beautifully variegated with dark and glaucous green ; their under side 

 paler, purplish, with slightly glandular ribs. Footstalks round, more 

 glandular ; tapering and wavy at the base. Flowers pendulous, on 

 naked wavy stalks, taller than the leaves. Corolla white, or flesh- 

 coloured ; purplish about the mouth. As the fruit advances, the 

 flower-stalks curl spirally, and bury it in the earth. A very acrid 

 plant, especially the root, whose acrimony is not much perceived at the 

 first tasting, but soon becomes intolerable. Smith. It has been used 

 medicinally, its action being that of a drastic purgative, and formerly it 

 was much esteemed as an emmenagogue ; but whether its reputation 

 was owing to its actual powers or to its placentiform root is doubtful. 

 Its acrid principle has been considered to be a body sui generis, and 

 named arthanitine. Burnett. 



PRIMULA. 



Calyx tubular, with 5 angles and 5 teeth, regular, erect, per- 

 manent. Corolla salver-shaped; tube cylindrical, as long as 

 the calyx, or longer ; limb spreading, in 5, rather deep, inversely 

 heart-shaped, obtuse segments ; throat concave, hemispherical, 

 pervious. Filaments in the throat, very short, opposite to the 

 segments of the limb ; anthers pointed, erect, converging, not 

 prominent. Style thread. shaped, the length of the calyx; 

 385 c c 



