927 



€i)C Crotfurg of 28otany. 



[PRIN 



DELABRE. Primula sinensis or prcenitens. 

 — EX ARBRE. CEnothera. 



PRIMIGENIUS, PRIMORDIAL. The 

 earliest pare developed in a plant. Primor- 

 dial leaves are the first leaves produced by 

 the plumule. 



PRTMINE. The exterior integument of 

 the ovule. 



PRIMORDIAL "UTRICLE. The first 

 layer of protoplasm thrown down over the 

 interior of a cell. 



PRIMPRINT, or PRIM. Ligustrum vul- 

 gare. 



PRIMROSE. Primula : specially, the po- 

 pular name of P. vulgaris. — , BIRD'S- 

 EYE. Primula farinosa, —, EVENING, 

 or NIGHT. CEnothera. —, PEERLESS. 

 Narcissus biflorus. 



PRIMULACE.E. (Lysimachice, Prim- 

 Korts.) A natural order of corollifloral di- 

 cotyledons belonging to Lindley's cortu- 

 sal alliance of perigynous Exogens. They 

 consist of herbaceous plants, with usually 

 opposite, frequently radical, exstipulate 

 leaves, and flowers on simple or umbellate 

 scapes. Calyx five rarely four-cleft, regu- 

 lar, persistent ; corolla monopetalous ; sta- 

 mens inserted on the corolla, and opposite 

 its segments ; ovary free, one-celled ; style 

 one. Fruit a capsule; seeds numerous, 

 attached to a free central placenta. They 

 are natives chiefly of temperate and cold 

 regions in the northern hemisphere ; in 

 the tropics occupying lofty situations. 

 Primula, Androsace, Glaux, Trientalis, Ana- 

 gallis, and Samolus occur amongst the 

 genera, which are over thirty in number, 

 and comprise about 250 species. Few of 

 them have any important medicinal pro- 

 perties, though acridity is more or less pre- 

 sent. They are cultivated as showy garden 

 annuals and perennials. [J. H. B.] 



PRIMULA. A genus of primworts, hav- 

 ing the calyx tubular or bell-shaped, and 

 five-toothed ; the corolla salver-shaped, its 

 tube cylindrical, and the mouth open ; and 

 the seed-vessel splitting into ten teeth at 

 the end. The species are herbaceous, and 

 natives of Europe and Asia, some being 

 alpine ; they are rare in North America. 

 The leaves are usually clustered below, and. 

 the flowers are in umbels. The name is 

 from the Latin primus, 'first,' to indicate 

 the early opening of the flowers in some of 

 the species. 



Primroses are deservedly favourites, as 

 many of them are among the finest of our 

 garden plants. In their native localities 

 they fail not to attract special notice, from 

 the little P. scotica of our own northern 

 shores, to the more prominent P. sikkimen- 

 sis of the Himalayas, which latter forms a 

 notable feature of the vegetation at from 

 12,000 to 17,000 feet elevation, and has 

 leaves a foot long, and a tall scape of yellow 

 flowers. 



The fine forms of Auricula are derived 

 from the yellow P. Auricula, a native of 

 the Swis3 Alps. The British species are P. 



veris the Cowslip, the flowers of which are 

 said to be narcotic ; P. elatior the Oxlip, 

 P. vulgaris the Primrose, P. farinosa, and 

 P. scotica. [G. D.] 



PRIMWORTS. Lindley's name for the 

 Primulacew. 



PRINCE'S FEATHER. Amaranthus liy- 

 pochondriacus ; also an American name for 

 Polygonum orientate. 



PR1NCEWOOD. A light-veined brown 

 "West Indian wood, the produce of Cordia 

 geraseanthoides and Rame.Ua ventricosa. 



PRINGLEA. The sole representative of 

 this genus of Cruciferce isP.antiscorbutica, 

 a remarkable cabbage-like plant confined to 

 insular Kerguelen's land, and hence often 

 called the Kerguelen's-land Cabbage. The 

 genus is characterised by its oblong seed- 

 pods being composed of two convex or 

 boat-shaped valves without a partition 

 between them, and by the seeds, which are 

 numerous and in two rows, being heart- 

 shaped at the bottom, but prolonged into 

 a short beak at the top, and having accum- 

 bent cotyledons. 



The plant has a thick round root, often 

 three or four feet long, and two inches in 

 diameter, which lies along the ground and 

 bears at its extremity a large cabbage, 

 closely resembling the common cabbage 

 of this country, having a dense white heart 

 and loose green outer leaves ; its flower- 

 stems grow out from below the principal 

 leaves, and are from two to three feet high, 

 with their lower part more or less leafy. The 

 whole plant abounds with essential oil, and 

 when cooked the cabbage tastes like tough 

 mustard and cress. Being a powerful anti- 

 scorbutic, it is invaluable to the crews of 

 ships touching at Kerguelen's land. Dr. 

 Hooker says : ' During the whole stay of 

 the Erebus and Terror in Christmas Har- 

 bour, daily use was made of this vege- 

 table, either cooked by itself or boiled with 

 the ship's beef, pork, or pea-soup. The es- 

 sential oil gives a peculiar flavour, which 

 the majority of the officers and the crew 

 did not dislike.and which rendered the herb 

 even more wholesome than the common 

 cabbage ; for it never caused heartburn, 

 nor any of the unpleasant symptoms which 

 that plant sometimes produces.' [A. S.J 



PRINOS. The Greek word applied to the 

 holly has been employed to designate a 

 genus of shrubs closely allied thereto.' Its 

 flowers are four or six-cleft, with six sta- 

 mens, usually dioscious or polygamous; and 

 the fruit is succulent, with six to eight 

 stones. The species are natives of North 

 America, the West Indies, and the warmer 

 parts of Asia. Some of them are ever- 

 green, while others are deciduous ; and 

 some have scarlet berries, while in others 

 they are purple or black. Several are in 

 cultivation in English shrubberies. 



The bark of P.verticillatus is bitter, and 

 has been employed in the treatment of 

 fever, and, in the form of lotion, as an ap- 

 plication in cases of gangrene, &c. The 

 berries are tonic, and sometimes emetic. 



