PRIMULA.] PRIMULACE^. 261 



1. PRI'MULA, Z. 



Scapigerous, perennial herbs. Flowers in involucrate umbels, white 

 yellow rose, or purple, honeyed. Calyx 5-toothed or -fid. Corolla funnel- 

 or salver-shaped, throat naked or with 5 swellings ; lobes 5, incurved or 

 spreading. Stamens 5, included. Ovary ovoid or globose ; style filiform, 

 stigma capitate; ovules many, amphitropous. Capsule 5-valved at the 

 top, many-seeded, valves simple or 2-fid. Seeds plano-convex, peltate. 

 DISTEIB. Of the Order ; species about 80. ETYM. primus, from flower- 

 ing early. Flowers usually dimorphic, having long styles with anthers 

 deep in the tube, or the reverse. 



* Leaves not mealy beneath, ivrinkled and toothed. Calyx-tube 5-angled. 



1. P. vulga'ris, Huds. ; leaves and umbels subsessile, flowers spreading 

 or suberect, calyx- teeth acuminate, corolla pale yellow, limb flat, throat 

 contracted with thickened folds. P. acau'lis, L. Primrose. 



Copses, pastures, and hedgebanks, N. to Shetland ; ascends to 1,600 ft. in 

 Yorkshire ; Ireland ; Channel Islands ; fl. April-May. Rootstock stout. 

 Leaves 3-6 in., obovate-spathulate, beneath and inflorescence softly hairy. 

 Umbels so sessile that the pedicels resemble scapes, which are about as long 

 as the leaves; bracts linear. Calyx ^-f in., a little inflated, 5-angled. 

 Corolla 1-1^ in., rarely white lilac or purplish, greenish when dry ; lobes 

 orbicular, notched. Capsule as long as the calyx-tube, ovoid, on prostrate 

 pedicels. DISTHIB. Europe, except the N.E. ; N. Africa. Varies in the 

 inflorescence being sessile (P. acau'lis, Jacq.) or a peduncled umbel (vars. 

 caules'cens and interme'dia], if these be not hybrids, as suggested by Baker 

 (see P. ve'ris). The origin of the Polyanthus. Kootstock emetic. 



2. P. ela'tior, Jacq. ; petioles winged, umbels peduncled, flowers hori- 

 zontal or drooping, calyx-teeth acuminate, corolla pale yellow, limb 

 concave, throat open without folds. Oxlip. 



Copses and meadows in Bedford, Suffolk, Cambridge, Essex ; fl. April-May. 

 Intermediate between P. vulyaris and veris, differing from the former in the 

 less inflated calyx, shorter pedicels, inodorous flowers, and capsule longer 

 than the calyx-tube ; it heuce resembles hybrids between P. veris and offici- 

 nalis, but differs from those by the more villous calyx, paler flowers, and 

 absence of folds at the mouth of the corolla. DISTJRIB. From Gothland 

 southd. (excl. Greece, Turkey), Siberia. 



3. P. ve'ris, L. ; petioles winged, umbels peduncled, flowers drooping, 

 calyx-teeth obtuse, corolla buff-yellow funnel-shaped, limb much cupped, 

 throat opened with obscure folds. P. officina'lis, Jacq. Cowslip, Paigle. 

 Meadows, pastures, and hedgebanks, from Caithness southd. ; rare in Scotland ; 



Ireland ; Channel Islands ; ascends to 1,600 ft. in Northumbd. ; fl. April- 

 May. Besides the characters given above, P. ve'ris differs from P. ela'tior in 

 the short and often glandular pubescence of the shorter pedicels and 

 calyx ; odorous flowers ; much smaller corolla-limb ; and capsule much 

 shorter than the calyx-tube ; corolla rarely scarlet or orange-brown. 

 DISTEIB. Europe, W. Asia, N. Africa ? Hybrids with P. vulga'ris include 

 P. ela'tior of older English botanists, probably P. ve'ris, /8 ela'tior, L., and P. 

 variabilis, Goupil, often taken for the Oxlip. 



