145 
THE OXLIP, COWSLIP, AND PRIMROSE. 
goes oe ee 
Btethe and Asia of the apeliee of roaeters § Primulastrum 
note that Mr. Bailey, in his introductory ss says that he has 
not been able to “ detect any special odour” in the flowers of the 
oxlip; to us this seems very marked, resembling that of the Grape 
Hyacinth. After a — to the dimorphism of the plants, 
Mr. Bailey continues :—] 
It has been found that ee a is of frequent occurrence 
amongst species of Primula, but it is more especially the case in 
the particular section of the genus to which the primrose, cowslip, 
and oxlip belong—viz. the section Primulastra of Linnaeus, or, as 
Pax has recently named it, Vernales or Veres. In nature, the prim- 
rose hybridizes with the cowslip, and both of these with the oxlip; 
the hybrids of these in their turn cross with each other, and with 
the types, with the result that botanical ceases is burdened with 
@ multitude of names which have been imposed upon the forms 
thus produced. 
It is only during the last ieee century that the hybrid origin of 
many of the common crosse this group has been established ; 
il of 
cowslip being pollinated by th mrose. Further the common 
polyanthus of our gardens is ened of hybrid bd me gr 
is no oes among horticulturists or bota 
ancestry, as it has been crossed and re-crossed so rg ‘that we 
cannot sae pda the origin of the multi-coloured 
forms of this favourite garden plant. 
The truth is that this group of the genus is in a state of great 
instability ; even the synthetical genius of Linneus perceived that 
however different they might be from each —_ he felt constrained 
to consider them as only forms of one spec the Caucasian 
P. amena of Bieberstein had had a Sais “extension over the 
continent as far as the British Islands, still greater plasticity, and 
consequent confusion, would have occurred if the area had been 
occupied by the four speci 
lt i is sieht dul to represent in a diagram a natural 
rding to their affinities, but an 
interrelations of the 
oxlip and its allies, based largely heed the ee of Dr. Fe 
grouping of all these f 
Journat or Borany.—Vot. 41. Nias. "1008. Le 
