COMMON GARDEN FLOWERS. 



51 



fovmd that no more glass is needed to enclose the 

 same area with a span-roof than was required in 

 a lean-to roof. As, however, the two angles must 

 necessarily meet much sooner when starting to- 

 wards each other than if one only travelled towards 

 a wall at the hack of the house perpendicular to 

 its hase, it follows that the highest portion of the 

 span-roof, that is its apex, would only he ahout half 

 the highest point of the lean-to roof at the summit 

 of the hack wall. This lowering,6f the roof and 

 bringing it closer to the plants, and placing the latter 

 all over the house almost at the same distance from 

 the light, is one of the greatest merits of span and 

 carrilinear-roofed houses. So marked, indeed, has 

 been the improvement in the cultivation of green- 

 house, stove, and other plants, since the general in- 

 troduction of span and other equally light roofs, 

 that the lean-to's are gradually disappearing, to the 

 decided gain of horticulture. 



Nevertheless, for certain purposes — such, for ex- 

 ample, as the cultivation of Ferns, Mosses, and several 

 foliage plants, especially among the latter being the 

 variegated Begonias of the Rex section — lean-to 

 houses, with somewhat ponderous roofs, often pro- 

 duce better results with less trouble than the more 

 light modem houses. While such Ferns as Tricho- 

 menes and Hymenophyllums, Todeas, or other filmy 

 Ferns, can only be grown in houses shaded from 

 every direct ray of sunshine, and with even the entry 

 of strong light partially subdued. Not a few Ferns, 

 however, enjoy the light, and can bear a fair amount 

 of direct sunshine, not only without injury, but with 

 positive benefit. 



COMMON GAEDEN FLOWEES. 



Hardy Primulas. — Of these there is a large 

 and very interesting grojip, some of them hybrids 

 of the Common Auricula, a large number of them 

 natives of the Alps of Switzerland, while some are 

 from Japan and the East Indies. There are a few 

 that can scarcely be denominated hardy, but they 

 are well worthy of green-house culture. The cul- 

 tivated Auriculas and the cultivated Polyanthuses 

 are dealt with in a separate series of articles. 



We allude to the Common Primrose in' passing 

 chly for the purpose of saying that it is very com- 

 mon in woods, hedges, and pastures, and that even 

 in an uncultivated state it varies in producing 

 flowers : white, rose, blush, and brownish ; and these 

 are alike single and double. The Common Primrose 

 is Primula vulgaris, or F. aeaulis, and Primula is 

 the Latin for very early, and refers to the flowering 

 of the species during the opening season of the 



year. The name Primrose, as Parkinson observed, 

 was given " because it shows by its flowering the 

 new spring to be coming on, it being, as it were, the 

 first ambassador thereof." It is truly an English 

 flower, and in no other country will it grow so 

 abundantly. Equally abundant is the Common 

 Cowslip, Primula veris. It is common in England, 

 chiefly in a clayey or chalky soil; it is rare in 

 Scotland, but found near Edinburgh and in Fife- 

 shire. Cowslip is the name the flower has borne from 

 the earliest Anglo-Saxon times, and probably re- 

 ferred to the sweetness of its perfume. It has 

 been called the Palsywort, and for the same reason 

 that the French name is " Herbe de la Paralysie," 

 the flowers being considered efficacious against 

 nervous disorders. CowsUp-wine is a. well-known 

 country compound, and Pope refers to its supposed 

 quality when he prescribes in poetry. 



** for want of rest 



Lettuce and Cowslip-wine — probatum est." 



The Oxlip is P. elatior, and is the foundation of 

 oirr fine Fancy or Giant Polyanthuses. The 

 flowers resemble those of the Cowslip in form, but 

 are larger and paler in colour ; while the flowers 

 grow ill more numerous clusters also. It is com- 

 paratively a rare plant, frequenting bushy places, 

 and often difficult to reach when found in the 

 woods, on account of the thorny brushwood among 

 which it grows. Slight local variation is observable 

 in various places. 



The common form of Primula Auricula, or it may ■ 

 be improved varieties of it, is often found in this 

 country. It lives in a wild state on the high 

 moimtain ranges of Switzerland, France, Austria, 

 and the Caucasian chain, and has probably a much 

 vrider distribution. Possessing a vigorous consti- 

 tution, and sporting into a goodly number of 

 varieties when raised from seeds, it attracted early 

 attention from lovers of flowers; its more striking 

 variations were perpetuated and classified, and their 

 modem representatives are treated of under the 

 head of Fioeists' Floweks. There is a variety of 

 the Alpine Auricula known as P. Auricula marginata. 

 This produces larger heads of fragrant yellow 

 flowers of a deep golden tint. The foliage is 

 thicky covered with a white farinous powder, and 

 margined with a narrow white band. The presence 

 of this powder on the leaves of some cultivated 

 Auriculas, and the entire absence of it on others, 

 is difficult to accoimt for. There is an entire ab- 

 sence of it on the leaves of the green-edged section ; 

 but in the cases of the grey edges, the white edges, 

 and the selfs, while it is thickly scattered over the 

 leaves in some varieties, it is not to be found on 

 others. 



