SPRING IN THE GARDEN 143 



kinds," but not known to Rea himself. His son-in- 

 law, the Rev. Samuel Gilbert, describes it as a " dull 

 Horseflesh hue " and of no value. 



Like the cowslip, the primrose would seem to 

 have lost repute amongst florists, and very little is 

 to be found regarding it all through the eighteenth 

 century. Miller (1783) mentions, along with 

 the common double, the paper white, pale flesh, 

 and double paper white, and distinguished them 

 as primroses of Constantinople. Later, the latter 

 name was withdrawn. An Edinburgh nurseryman 

 in 1774 mentions three double sorts, viz. double 

 yellow, double red, and double velvet, which he 

 described as "a great beauty, being almost of a 

 crimson colour with a bright gold coloured stamina." 



Martyn in Flora Rtistica figured a dingy 

 coloured variety which he called "Scotch Prim- 

 rose," and asserted that the plant grew wild in 

 Scotland. In his dictionary he further remarks 

 that it partakes to some extent of the nature of a 

 polyanthus. The pink or lilac double primrose was 

 figured by Curtis in The Botanical Magazine, and 

 for a long time, or until about the third decade of 

 the last century, the primrose remained in almost 

 a stationary condition. Since then many double 

 and fine single varieties have been produced. 



