PRIMROSE FAMILY 



The genus Primula numbers about one hundred and forty 

 species, all northern and many alpine. A great many are culti- 

 vated in Europe that are never seen 

 here. Ten or twelve species are 

 credited in the books to the colder 

 parts of North America, but all our 

 cultivated species are of European or 



Cowslip. Primvia ofjicmms Asiatic origin. 



Of greenhouse plants the Chinese 

 Primrose, Primula sinensis; the Japanese Primrose, Primula 

 Japdnica; and the Baby Primrose, Primula Fdrbesi, are favor- 

 ites. The Japanese Primrose is reported as hardy. 



Primula obcdnica, from China, has become a popular winter- 

 blooming plant. The varieties grandifldra a.nd fimbrihta are most 

 desirable. 



PRIMROSE 



Primula vulgaris. Primula acaidis. 



A common English wild flower, early transferred to the garden and 

 there transformed into many varieties. A stemless perennial with 

 radical leaves. April, May. 



Leaves. — Tufted, wrinkled, enlarging after the flowering period. 

 Flowers. — An inch across, pale-yellow, on separate footstalks as long 

 as the leaves. 

 Calyx. — ^Tubular, not inflated, five-toothed. 

 Corolla. — Salver-shaped, border spreading, five-lobed. 

 Slamens.—¥i\e, inserted on the corolla-tube. 

 Ovary. — Ovoid; style slender; stigma capitate. 

 Capsule. — One-celled ; many-seeded. 



This is the Common Primrose of the garden. The scape is 

 suppressed in this species and the footstalks appear as scapes, 

 so that the flowers are apparently solitary. The garden varieties 

 are now not only yellow but white, lilac, and pale-purple. Bloom- 



34° 



