26 



FLORA AND SYLVA. 



of bright rosy-purple during March and April. 

 It should be grown in an open spot, but is 

 averse to lime and to full sunlight. A fine 

 white-flowered form of this plant is known as 

 P nivea and often wrongly called P. nivalis — a 

 totally different plant. 



Silver-edged Primrose {P .marginata). — 

 A beautiful plant found at from 2,000 to 6,000 

 feet in Switzerland and the western Alps. Its 

 form is very distinct, with a stem of some 

 length and the appearance of a little shrub of 

 4 or 5 inches high. Its leaves are oblong, 

 irregularly toothed, with a narrow edging of 

 silvery powder; its many flowers are of bluish- 

 lilac, borne during April and May. Thrives in 

 crevices of the rock in half-shade, and should 

 be grown in well-drained nooks of the rock- 

 garden or a dry place in the border. 



Fairy Primrose (P. minima). — A species 

 of the central and eastern Alps, at a height of 

 2,000 to 7,000 feet, and extending south to 

 the Balkans. It is a tiny plant, forming crowded 

 tufts of light green rosettes, with leaves coarsely 

 toothed; the flower is large, solitary or in pairs 

 upon a very short stalk, rosy-lilac in colour, and 

 deeply divided into five lobes. Being found 

 among granite rocks it needs a sandy well- 

 drained soil, full sunlight, and abundant mois- 

 ture. March and April. 



Muret's Primrose (P. Muretiana). — A 

 natural cross between P .integrifolia and P. vis- 

 cosa, found freely in the Engadine and Tyrol, 

 in crevices of the rocks with a northern aspect. 

 Its leaves are long and brownish, with flowers 

 of a deep crimson-purple appearing in May 

 or June as beautiful clusters of three to ten 

 flowers. 



Val Daone Primrose (P. CEnensis). — 

 Found in the Tyrol and the eastern Swiss Alps, 

 at 5,000 to 7,000 feet. A pretty plant akin to 

 the hairy-leaved Primrose {liirsuta), but known 

 by its crowded tufts and habit of growth, and 

 its thick, clammy leaves, sparingly toothed. 

 Its flowers are large, of bright pale pink with 

 a white eye, coming in April and May. 



Piedmont Primrose (P '. pedmontana) . — A 

 very distinct form of the Clammy Primrose 

 (viscosa), found in the Italian Alps with a range 

 of 1,000 to 5,000 feet. Its leaves are clothed 

 with a dense brownish down, are thick and 

 oblong, and arranged in large rosettes ; the 

 flowers are large and numerous, of brilliant 



rosy-purple, and handsome. March and April. 

 It is frequent in crevices of the rocks in half- 

 shade. 



Hybrid Bear's Ear (P. pubescens). — A 

 natural cross between the Auricula and the 

 Hairy-leaved Primrose, found in the Alps side 

 by side with its parents. Its leaves are smooth 

 and thick, with large flowers of many colours 

 from yellow through all the shades of crimson 

 and purple, coming in April and May. This 

 plant is in part the source of the garden 

 Auricula. 



Showy Primrose (P \spectabilis). — A plant 

 of the eastern and Austrian Alps, found at from 

 3,000 to 7,000 feet upon the limestone. It is 

 a beautiful species, akin to the Clusius Prim- 

 rose (C/usiana) bearing large flowers of violet- 

 crimson in early spring. It is of easy culture in 

 half-shade, within crevices of the limestone 

 rocks. 



Tyrolese Primrose (P. tyroliensis). — A 

 species of the Southern Tyrol, at from 3,000 

 to 8,000 feet upon limestone. A pretty plant 

 akin to Allioni's Primrose with similarly dwari 

 habit and tiny leaves, but these are readily 

 known as being translucid (instead of opaque) 

 and toothed, and by the divided lobes of the 

 rosy-lilac corolla. The entire plant is little 

 more than an inch high, and flowers during 

 April and May. It is of difficult culture, re- 

 quiring porous well-drained soil of peat,humus, 

 and sand, with fragments of limestone, and a 

 spot in half-shade. 



Shaggy-leaved Primrose (P. villosa). — 

 A plant abundant in the granitic masses of 

 southern Austria, at from 3,000 to 6,000 feet. 

 Its leaves are clammy, covered with hairs, and 

 regularly dented; its flowers, of a brilliant rose 

 colour, appear in March and April. In gardens 

 it often passes for the Hairy or the Clammy 

 Primroses, but may be known from hirsuta (of 

 which the leaves are suddenly contracted upon 

 the stalk) by its narrower leaves, less toothed, 

 and gradually tapering, and by the brown hairi- 

 ness of all its parts. From viscosa it differs in 

 the shorter tube of its corolla, its short flower- 

 stalk, and in the greater brilliancy of its flowers. 

 It succeeds in rocky crevices in half-shade, 

 planted in peat rich in humus and free of lime. 



Clammy Primrose (P. viscosa). — A plant 

 of the granite rocks of the Alps and Pyrenees, 

 with a range of 3,000 to 5,000 feet. Like the 



