PRIMROSE FAMILY 319 



ally white, red, or lilac, with a flat limb, having a faint but char- 

 acteristic fragrance. — Banks and woods; abundant. — Fl. December 

 — May. Perennial. 



2. P. verts (Cowslip). — Almost an equal favourite; leaves ovate, 

 abruptly contracted below; umbels with a long, erect, downy 

 peduncle, short pedicels, and drooping flowers; calyx bell-shaped 

 with short, broad teeth; corolla funnel-shaped, deep yellow, with 

 5 reddish spots in the eye, fragrant. — Pastures; common. Among 

 the many pleasing purposes to which these flowers are put by 

 children, none is prettier than that of making Cowslip Balls. The 

 method is as follows : — Choosing only such umbels as have all 

 the flowers open, pick them off as close as possible to the top of 

 the peduncle and hang them, close together, along a string about 

 1 J — 2 feet long, stretched between the backs of two chairs. 

 When the string is full, carefully loosen its ends, and, raising them, 

 gently tie them together, so drawing all the flower-heads into a 

 ball. — Fl. April, May. Perennial. 



3. P. eldtior (Oxlip). — Leaves like those of the Cowslip ; umbel 

 long-stalked ; flowers not drooping, salver-shaped, but smaller and 

 paler, and more buff than those of the Primrose, with a smell 

 of apricots ; calyx tubular ; corolla flat, not concave. — Woods in 

 north-west Essex and neighbouring parts of Herts, Cambridge- 

 shire and Suffolk only. The name Paigle is applied locally to this 

 species and elsewhere to the Cowslip. — Fl. April, May. Perennial. 



4. P. farinosa (Bird's-eye Primrose). — Leaves small, obovate, 

 crenate, covered below with a white or sulphur-like meal ; umbels 

 on peduncles 2 — 8 in. high ; calyx-teeth long, linear, obtuse ; 

 corolla lilac, with a yellow eye, lobes distant. — Mountain pastures, 

 from Yorkshire northwards. — Fl. June, July. Perennial. 



5. P. scotica (Scottish Primrose). — Resembling the last, but 

 only half its size, with broader leaves, shorter and broader calyx- 

 teeth, and a deeper blue-purple corolla with its lobes touching, is a 

 rare species growing in the Orkneys, and in a few places in the 

 extreme north of Scotland. — Fl. May — September. Perennial. 



*3. Cyclamen (Sow-bread). — Plants with large, tuber-like, 

 underground stems; radical, petiolate, broad leaves ; flowers soli- 

 tary, drooping, on long, leafless, erect peduncles, which twist 

 spirally when in fruit ; calyx 5 -cleft ; corolla with a short, bell- 

 shaped tube and long-reflexed lobes to its limb ; capsule opening 

 with 5 teeth. (Name from the Greek, referring to the round 

 corm.) 



1.* C. hederifolium (Ivy-leaved Sow-bread). — The only species 

 found in Britain ; but a doubtful native. Remarkable for its 



