288 THE PKIMROSE FAMILY. [Hottonia. 



Stamens and divisions of the flower in fours . . . .8. Centunculus. 

 Stamens and divisions of the flower in fives. 



No corolla. Calyx pinkish 6. Glaux. 



Both calyx and corolla. 

 Capsule opening at the top. Flowers yellow . . .4. Lysimachia. 

 Capsule opening transversely. Flowers blue or red . 7. Anagallis. 

 Leaves alternate or radical y or the upper ones irregularly whorled. 

 Flowers terminal. 

 Leaves all radical. Flowers solitary or umbellate, on radical 

 peduncles. Tube of the corolla distinct. 

 Tube of the corolla cylindrical, lobes spreading. No tubers. 2. Primula. 

 Tube of the corolla nearly globular, lobes reflexed. Boot- 

 stock tuberous 3. Cyclamen. 



Stem leafy. 

 Leaves in one terminal whorl, with a few alternate ones 

 below. Peduncles few, terminal, 1-flowered. Corolla 



rotate 5. Trientalis. 



Leaves all alternate. Flowers small, white, in a terminal 



raceme 9. Samolus. 



The Dodecatheon, or American Cowslip, of our gardens, belongs also to 

 Primulacece. The allied family of Myrsinacece, mentioned above, is com- 

 monly represented in our greenhouses by a species of Ardisia. 



I. HOTTONIA. HOTTONIA. 



Aquatic herbs, with submerged, pinnatifid leaves, and flowers in whorls 

 forming a terminal raceme ; differing from Primula in the more deeply 

 divided calyx, and in the capsule, which opens by lateral slits instead of 

 terminal teeth. 



Besides our own species, the genus only comprises a single North 

 American one. 



1. H. palustris, Linn. (fig. 649). Water Violet, Feather foil. — Stock 

 perennial and creeping, with whorled leafy branches entirely sub- 

 merged ; the leaves alternate and deeply pinnatifid, with narrow-linear 

 lobes. From the centre of the whorl a single, erect, leafless flower-stem 

 arises out of the water, bearing at intervals whorls of from 3 to 5 or 

 6 handsome, pale-purple flowers, on short pedicels, each with a small 

 bract at its base. Calyx of /5 deep, linear divisions. Corolla with a 

 straight tube, rather snorter or scarcely longer than the calyx, and a 

 broad, 5-lobed limb. 



In pools and channels, in central and northern Europe, but not extend- 

 ing to the Arctic Circle. Very local in western England, more common 

 in the central and eastern districts ; in Ireland, County Down only, and 

 not found in Scotland. Fl. early summer. 



II. PRIMULA. PRIMROSE. 



Herbs, with radical leaves ; the flowers either solitary or in a terminal 

 umbel, on leafless, radical peduncles. Calyx tubular or campanulate, 

 with 5 teeth or lobes not reaching to the base. Corolla with a straight 

 tube, and a spreading, 5-lobed limb, each lobe often notched or 2-cleft. 

 Capsule opening at the top in 5 teeth. 



A genus widely spread in Europe and northern and central Asia, 

 containing many alpine, especially Chinese and Himalayan species, 

 with only two or three North American, and one in Antarctic America- 



