270 PENTANDRIA— MONOGYNIA. Primula. 



Stigma globular. Caps, cylindrical, as long as the calyx 

 which invests it closely, of 1 cell, opening with ten acute 

 parallel teeth. Seeds numerous, roundish, covering a cen- 

 tral, ovate-oblong, unconnected receptacle. 

 Herbaceous, stemless, perennial. Leaves simple, mostly 

 toothed ; tapering at the base, or stalked. Flower-stalks 

 umbellate, bracteated. Cor. yellow, red, or purplish. 



1. P. 'Vulga7'is. Common Primrose. 



I^eaves obovate-oblong, toothed, wrinkled. Stalks single- 

 flowered. Limb of the corolla flat. 



P. vulgaris. Huds. 83. Fl, Br. 222. Engl. Bot. vA. t. 4. Hook. 



Scot. 71. 

 P. veris y, acaulis. Linn. Sp. PI. 205. Fl. Dan. t. 194. 

 P. veris vulgaris. Rail Syn, 284. 

 P. veris minor. Ger. Em. 781./. 

 P. elatior /3, acaulis. Willd. v.\.SO\. 

 P. acaulis. Jacq. Misc. v. 1. 158. Cicrt. Lond.fasc. 6. t. 16. 

 P. n. 608. Hall. Hist. v. 1. 270. 

 P. sylvarum. Lob. Ic.568.f. 

 Alisma sylvarum. Column. PIujt.2\.f. 

 |3. Primula elatior. Hook. Lond. t. 9. 



In groves, thickets, hedges and waste grassy places, abundantly. 



Perennial. April, May. 



Root somewhat fleshy, with long fibres. Leaves numerous, radi- 

 cal, obovate-oblong, unequally toothed, soft and somewhat 

 downy, reticulated with veins ; tapering gradually downward 

 into broad short footstalks. Fl. numerous, large, sulphur- 

 coloured, with a darker radiating spot in the middle ; their scent 

 agreeable, though slight. Sometimes the Jlower-stalks form an 

 umbel, being elevated on a common stalk, as tall as the leaves, 

 a few remaining single from the root ; but this variety, my /3, is 

 distinct from P. elatior. I have such a specimen from the Rev. 

 Mr. Relhan. There is always an awl -shaped bractea at the base 

 of each particular stalk, whether radical or umbellate. 



There are cultivated varieties, white, purplish, or brown, single or 

 double, of which the double sulphur-coloured is peculiarly 

 elegant. 



2. P. elatior. Oxlip Primrose. 



Leaves toothed, wrinkled, contracted towards the middle. 

 Stalk many- flowered. Limb of the corolla flat. 



P. elatior. With. 234. Fl.Br.223. E7igl. Bot. v.8. t.5]3. Cul- 

 lum 73. Hook. Scot. 7\. Willd. Sp. PI. r. 1 . 801 . Jacq. Misc. 

 iJ. 1.158. 



