PRIMROSE FAMILY. Primulaceae. 



and usually with six, white or pinkish petals, sometimes 

 deep pink, or flecked with lilac outside. The ovary makes 

 a purplish dot in the center, surrounded by curling, yellow 

 anthers, with threadlike filaments united at base. The 

 capsule contains a few, rather large, white seeds. We often 

 find these dainty little plants growing in companies, their 

 starry blossoms glimmering in the shade, prettily set off 

 by their neat circle of leaves. 



There are a good many kinds of Dodecatheon, of North 

 America and Asia; perennials, with root-leaves; flowers in 

 bracted, terminal clusters; calyx with four or five lobes, 

 turned back in flower but erect in fruit; corolla with four or 

 five, long lobes, turned strongly back over the short tube 

 and thick throat; stamens of the same number as the lobes, 

 the anthers pointing straight forward, inserted on the 

 throat of the corolla, filaments short, flat and united, or 

 lacking; style long; capsule containing many seeds. The 

 Greek name, meaning "twelve gods," seems far-fetched, 

 but Linnaeus fancied the cluster of flowers resembled a 

 little assembly of divinities. Common names are Prairie 

 Pointers, Mosquito-bills, Wild Cyclamen, and American 

 Cowslip, the latter poor, because misleading. 



A very decorative plant, with a smooth, 

 Large Shooting- stout ^ reddish stem> five to eighteen inches 



Dod*c&tkm tall ver y slightly hairy towards the top, 



Jeffreyi springing from a cluster of root-leaves, 



Pink five to eighteen inches long, smooth, 



Summer sometimes slightly toothed, and bearing a 



cluster of from five to fifteen beautiful 

 flowers. The corolla is usually an inch or more long, 

 usually with four petals, purplish-pink, paler at the base, 

 with a yellow and maroon ring and maroon "bill." This 

 has a faint, oddly sweet scent and grows in wet, mountain 

 meadows. I found a very beautiful white form at Lost 

 Lake, in Yosemite, more delicate, with lighter green foliage 

 and pure white corollas, ringed with yellow and maroon. 

 Not so handsome as the last, but very 



attractive, with a slightly roughish stem, 

 Cleveland* twelve to sixteen inches tall, bearing a 



White fine crown o r . flowers and springing from a 



Spring cluster of smooth, slightly thickish leaves, 



California , , . ~, .,, r 



paler on the under side, with a few teeth. 



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