Primula.) XLVI. PRIMULACES. 289 
Leaves rather large, wrinkled, light green. Lobes of the corolla 
slightly notecbed . : : : ‘4 7 p 3 3 a ke F.. Deress 
Peduncles apparently radical, and 1-flowered ; , : . Var.a. Primrose. 
Peduncles bearing an umbel of several flowers. 
Limb of the corolla small and concave ; F F : . Var. b. Cowslip. 
Limb of the corolla broad and flat . , Var. .c. Oxlip. 
Leaves small, not wrinkled, covered underneath as well as the calyx 
with a white meal. Corolla small, the lobes deeply notched,. 2. P. farinosa. 
1. P. veris, Linn. (figs. 650, 651)—Stock perennial and tufted. 
Leaves ovate or oblong, usually about 3 inches long, of a pale green, 
slightly toothed and much wrinkled. Calyx tubular, half an inch or 
rather more in length. Corolla usually yellow or straw-coloured ; the 
tube nearly as long or longer than the calyx; the limb deeply 5-lobed, 
each lobe shortly notched. Stamens included in the tube. 
In meadows, open woods, and hedge-banks, in Europe and Russian 
Asia, Fl. spring. It occurs commonly in three different forms, originally 
united by Linnzus under one botanical species, but since his days con- 
sidered by most botanists as so many distinct and constant species, 
although more recent investigation has shown that Linnzeus’s views 
were correct. The Polyanthuses of our gardens are cultivated varieties 
of the same species. The three indigenous races [which are supposed 
to hybridise with one another] are :— 
a. The Primrose (P.vulgaris, Huds., P. acaulis, Linn.) (fig. 650). More 
or less hairy. Peduncles apparently all radical, as long as the leaves, 
each bearing a single large flower, with a broad flat limb. Calyx-teeth. 
narrow and pointed. If closely examined, the peduncles will, however, 
be seen really to spring from an umbel, of which the common stalk is 
so short as to be concealed by the base of the leaves.—On hedge-banks 
and in rather open woods; particularly abundant in Britain, and ex- 
tends over central HKurope and some mountainous districts of southern 
Europe, wanting in north-eastern Europe, and not recorded from the 
Altai or from Siberia. 
b. The Cowslip, or Paigle (P. veris, Linn.) (fig. 651). Not hairy, but 
often covered with a minute, pale down. Flower-stalks rising above the 
leaves, bearing an umbel of flowers. Calyx-teeth usually broad and 
obtuse. Corolla with a concave or cup-shaped limb, very much smaller 
than in the Primrose, but varying in size.—In meadows and pastures, 
over nearly the whole of Europe and Russian Asia to the Caucasus and 
Altai, and extending much farther over southern Europe than the other 
varieties. Not, however, an Arctic plant, and, in Britain, not so 
common in Scotland as in England. 
ce. The Oxlip (P. clatior, Jacq. ), including all the intermediate forms 
which have the limb of the corolla broader and flatter than in the Cowslip, 
but the flowers in an umbel raised above the ground, and usually above 
the leaves, on a common peduncle. Calyx and hairiness partaking 
sometimes of those of the Primrose, sometimes of the Cowslip.—Usually 
in moister and more luxuriant meadows and pastures than the Cowslip, 
in less shady situations than the Primrose, but frequently intermixed 
with either, or with both, and passing gradually into the-one or the 
other. Geographical range nearly that of the Cowslip, but much less 
abundant, except in some parts of central Europe. It is now generally 
believed that there is a distinct species, P. elatior, Jacq., closely resembling 
the hybrid Oxlip, but differing in the more villous calyx, paler flowers, 
7 
