HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



225 



OBSERVATIONS ON PRIMULACE^. 



IN writing my notes taken on diseases and anoma- 

 lies of two of our commonest spring plantsi 

 Primula vulgaris and P. veris, to readers of 

 Science-Gossip, I must say that what I have 

 written is not to be taken as an argument on any 

 point connected therewith, but merely as a slight aid 

 to those who know more about the subject than I do, 

 and who may be able to follow up such remarks 

 towards a much more certain verification than I 

 could possibly do. 



I find it much more convenient for me to notice 

 my several parts somewhat separately, instead of in a 

 general way, as most of the papers in connection 

 with this paper do, hoping I may be excused on that 

 ground, that it may be more lucid than if I had 

 otherwise written it. 



I will consider the diseases of P. vulgaris and 

 P. veris first of all. Besides the notes taken this 

 year on this subject, I add a few others taken before. 



The diseases of this family generally do not seem to 

 be many, but two special kinds belong to the above 

 two flowers, the fungous and the insect one. 



The first is like white masses of matter of the 

 nature of a sponge, through the lens, found in the 

 tube of corollary, and affecting stamens entirely, and 

 sometimes the pistil, rarely the tube of corolla itself. 

 What the result is on the flowers themselves I cannot 

 say, whether it has the effect of preventing fertiliza- 

 tion, and of keeping all kinds of insects away, I do 

 not know, but I have never seen any insects of any 

 kind near such flowers, although to look at they have 

 been perfectly healthy in almost every external 

 particular. I believe that plants growing in damp 

 woods with running streams near are much more 

 widely affected by it than those growing in open 

 fields or in sandy or limestone (mainly) soil. 



Of the plants P. vulgaris and P. veris, the former 

 is much more liable to it than the latter, as may 

 be shown from the following numbers — that out of 

 one hundred flowers P. vulgaris had about sixty 

 attacked, while Primula veris had only about thirty- 

 four. However, the disease is comparatively small 

 in proportion to the number of flowers examined by 

 me. Thrum-eyed and pin-eyed flowers in each case 

 were very equally subject to it. 



The notes I made before in an earlier number of 

 Science-Gossip, saying that, "if one flower or 

 plant was diseased, all were," I must refute ; although 

 at that time what I said was correct, on further 

 investigation I find it does not hold so good ; but 

 if there are two sides to the question, I would still 

 maintain that, as a general rule, it will be found to be 

 the case, perhaps when examined more for a few 

 years longer. 



Passing on to the second cause of disease, that of 

 insects, there is a larger proportion of flowers injured 

 by them than by the fungus. And there are three 



special insects that seem to take up their home in 

 these plants for certain. Not being much of an 

 entomologist I do not know their names, so I must 

 just describe them briefly with drawings. 



1. Length about ^ inch. Brown in colour on 

 abdomen and head and upper part of thorax, and 

 whitish on lower part of thorax. Head and thorax 

 seem to be separate (?) Abdomen is pointed at end. 

 Legs three pairs. Antennas very long (Fig. 128). 



2. Large and black in colour : J inch long about, 

 or rather more perhaps. Legs brown. Shining on 

 back. This insect is larger than the above in every 

 way, and has a bony skin (Fig. 129). 



3. Reddish-brown in colour, and whitish or light 



Fig. 127. 



Fig 123. 



Fig. 129. 



Fig. 130. 



Fig. 131. 



in colour on the under side. Shiny also, and bony 

 to look at, and shape as in Fig. 127. 



The above three insects predominate by far among 

 these two plants, and seem peculiar to them. 



The disease must be due more especially to the 

 first of these insects, as in many instances where I 

 found the disease I most often found the first kind by 

 a long way. 



The nature of disease was brown in colour and 

 dark-reddish in some parts, and under the lens like 

 masses of legless grubs. Some people may think it 

 was the eggs of the insects I have been mistaking 

 for the disease ; but I do not think they were, 

 although I found in about three-quarters of the flowers 

 examined, that both the first two kinds of insects 



