Part II. PRIMULA. 295 



some isolated nook on rockwork, where there is an unusually 

 deep bed of soil. A native of Southern Italy. 



PRIMULA PURPUREA.— /"zisr//^ Primrose.. 



A HANDSOME Primrose, from elevations of 12,000 feet or more 

 on the Himalayas, and allied to P. denticulata, though far finer ; 

 the flowers, of an exquisite purple, are larger, in heads about 

 three inches across, and the leaves entire, by which it may be- 

 distinguished from its near relations. Sheltered and warm posi- 

 tions, but not very shady, on rockwork, or in the open parts of 

 the hardy fernery, will best suit it, the soil being i. light deep 

 sandy loam, well enriched with decomposed leaf-motld. I have 

 never seen it thrive so well as when planted in nooks at the base 

 of rocks which sheltered it, where it enjoyed more heat than' if 

 exposed ; but probably it will be found to thrive under ordinary 

 circumstances when plentiful enough for trial in various posi- 

 tions. At present it is scarce. 



PRIMULA SCOTICA. — Scotch Bird's-eye Primrose. ' ' 



This, one of the most lovely of its family and of the choicest little 

 gems in the British Flora, is a near ally of the Bird's-eye Prim- 

 ro.se of the moist and boggy mountain sides of the North qf Eng- 

 land. Its rich purple flowers, with la,rge,yellowish eye, open in the 

 end of April, supported on stems from half ^.n inch, to an, inch high, 

 growing an inch or two taller as the season advances.. It isisaid 

 by some botanists to be simply a variety of the Bird's-eye Prim- 

 rose, but the seedlings show no tendency to approach the larger 

 and looser P.farinosa, and Mr. Syme, who has carefully observed 

 the living- plant both in a. wild stat^ and cultivated in, his own 

 garden,- declares it to be' " perfectly distinct." , .Thet leaves are 

 very powdery on the under side, broadest near, the, njiddle, 

 shotter, and less indented than those of P.farinosa, -yvhich are 

 broadest near the end; and the whole plant, is about large 

 enough to associate with a dwarf moss or lichen. It is rather 

 difficult to obtain, unless one has an opportunity of getting, )i.t 

 from its native localities in Scotland ;. but it can be had froiji 

 several English and Scotch nurserymen who cultivate such 

 subjects. A native of the counties of Sutherland and Caith- 

 ness, and of the Orkney Isles, growing in damp pastures. 

 The best place to select for its cultivation i^ on a properly 



