290 THE PRIMROSE FAMILY, _  [Primula. 
Peduncles apparently radical, and one-flowered ate Var. a. Primrose. 
Peduncles bearing an umbel of several flowers. ioe 
Limb of the corolla small andconcave . : ; . Var. b. Cowslip. 
Limb of the corolla broad and flat . : . i . 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. 648, 649). Common Primrose.—Stock perennial 
and tufted. Leaves ovate or oblong, usually about 3 inches long, of a pale 
green, slightly toothed and muck 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 Linneus 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 are: 
a..The Primrose (P. vulgaris, Huds., P. acaulis, Linn.) (fig. 649). 
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 extends over central 
Europe and some mountainous districts of southern Europe, wanting in 
north-eastern Europe, and not recorded from the Altai or from Siberia. 
b. The Cowslip, Linn. (P. veris, or Paigte). 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 rather dry meadows and pastures, abundant 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. ? 
c. The Oxlip (P. elatior, 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 there is really a distinct 
species, P. elatvor, Jacq., closely resembling the hybrid Oxlip, but differing 
in the more villous calyx, paler flowers, and the absence of folds usually to 
be seen in the orifice of the corolla in the Primrose and Cowslip, a Conti- 
nental plant occurring in some of the eastern counties of England; but the 
distinctness is scarcely proved satisfactorily. 
2, P.farinosa, Linn, (fig. 650). Mealy or Bird's-eye Primrose.— 
