846 



PRACTICE OF GARDENING. 



Part III. 



Subsect. 15. Auricula. Primula Auricula, L. (Jac. Aus. 5. t. 415.) Pent. Monog. L. 

 and Primulacete, B. P. Oreille a" ours, Fr. ; Aurikel, Ger. ; and Orecchio d'orso, Ital. 

 (Jig. 603.) 



6339. The auricula is a flower of great beauty : it is a small fibrous-rooted plant, with 

 fleshy succulent leaves, generally mealy on the edges ; a native of the mountains of 

 Switzerland, Austria, Syria, and the Caucasus, &c. We have gathered it in abundance 

 near the post-house on the Simplon road. It was cultivated by Gerrard in 1 597, under 

 the name of bear's ears, or mountain cowslips. To show what cultivation may perform 

 on this plant, Professor Martyn relates, from Morant's Colchester (1768, p. 92.), 

 that Henry Stow, a gardener, near that place, a famous grower of ^uriculas, had some 

 plants with no less than 133 blossoms on one stem. About a hundred years ago the 

 passion for this flower in England was much greater than at present ; and, as Justice 

 remarks, we supplied the Dutch, who afterwards, till the late war, used to re-supply us 

 with the progeny of our own flowers. Justice was the most enthusiastic cultivator of the 

 auricula, and indeed of all florists' flowers of his time. After him the Lancashire 

 growers are the next to be distinguished, and more especially Maddock, the well known 

 author of the Florist's Directory, originally from Warrington. Emmerton is, at this 

 time, one of the most enthusiastic admirers of this flower ; and the best collections are 

 to be found among the commercial gardeners near London, and the operative manu- 

 facturers and artisans near Manchester, Paisley, and other large towns. It is like the 

 tulip, pink, &c, a poor man's flower, and a fine blow is rarely to be seen in the gardens 

 of the nobility and gentry. 



6340. The varieties are endless. 



The colors of the flower in its wild state 

 are yellow, purple, and variegated. 

 Gerrard figures the yellow, purple, 

 red, scarlet, blush-colored, and bright- 

 red, most of which grew in the Lon- 

 don gardens in his time. Parkinson, 

 in 1629, enumerates twenty varieties, 



and says many more were to be 

 found. Rea, in 1702, has an increased 

 number, classed as purples, reds, 

 yellows, and whites. In 1792, the 

 catalogue of J. Maddock contained 

 nearly 500 named varieties, divided 

 into ligioiiet, selfs, or plain one-colored 



sorts, double flowers, and painted or 

 variegated sorts. The latter only are 

 held in esteem, and few collections 

 contain more than two or three selfs 

 of the fundamental colors, and as many 

 double flowers. Double varieties are not 

 in esteem. 



603 



6341. Criterion of a fine variegated auricula, 

 (fig. 603. a, b, c, d,e) " The stem should be 

 strong, erect, and elastic, and of a proper height, 

 that the bunch or truss may be above the foliage 

 of the plant. The peduncles, or foot-stalks, of 

 the flowers should also be strong and elastic, and 

 of a proportional length to the size and quantity 

 of the pips, which should not be less than seven 

 in number, that the bunch may be rather round, 

 close, and compact. The component parts of 

 the pip are the tube (with its stamens and an- 

 thers) ; the eye ; and the exterior circle contain- 

 ing the ground-color, with its edge or margin : 

 these three should be all well proportioned, 

 which will be the case if the diameter of the 

 tube be one part, the eye three, and the whole 

 pip six, or nearly so. All the admirers of this 

 flower agree that the pips ought to be round ; 

 but this seldoms happens ; and we must be content if they are so nearly round as not to 

 be what is termed starry. The anthers, or summits of the stamens, ought to be large, 

 bold, and fill the tube well, and the tube should terminate rather above the eye ; the eye 

 should be very white, smooth, and round, without any cracks, and distinct from the 

 ground or self-color. The ground-color should be bold and rich, and equal on every 

 side of the eye, whether it be in one uniform circle, or in bright patches ; it should be 

 distinct at the eye, and only broken at the outward part into the edging ; a fine black, 

 purple, or bright coffee-color, contrast best with the eye ; a rich blue or bright pink is 

 pleasing, but a glowing scarlet or deep crimson would be most desirable, if well edged 

 with a bright green ; but this must seldom be expected. The green edge, or margin, 

 is the principal cause of the variegated appearance in this flower ; and it should be in 

 proportion to the ground-color, i. e. about one half of each. The darker grounds are 

 generally covered with a white powder, which seems necessary, as well as the white eye, 

 to guard the flowers from the scorching heat of the sun's rays, which would soon destroy 

 them if they were exposed to it." 



6342. Propagation. By rooted slips, or dividing the root for continuing approved 

 sorts, and by seed for obtaining new varieties. The best time for taking off slips, or 

 dividing the root, is after the plant has done flowering and ripening its seed, if this last 



