Flowers and Gardens 



In many Primroses, then, you will at 

 once be struck by a certain dryness in the 

 look of the leaf ; a dryness like that of 

 an absorbent surface, which would be 

 nothing unusual in Sage or other such 

 parched-up Labiate, but which becomes 

 most remarkable when combined with 

 these soft and fleshy textures. And it 

 will sometimes make you at first a little 

 doubtful as to the impression you get 

 from the leaf. Harsh, you might say, 

 but never altogether so, for we cannot 

 help feeling that there is a softness also 

 there, to which the harshness yields, a 

 softness composed of many elements — the 

 dull velvety colour of the leaf which might 

 make you believe it downy, the seeming 

 readiness to bend any way as though it 

 were a piece of cloth, and especially 

 that plaited downy character of the 

 margin to which we have already alluded. 

 Now we can easily find specimens with 

 scarce any trace of harshness, but in 

 many of the best the softness prevails 

 over the harshness without ever quite 

 effacing it, so that the rough dryness 

 may enter into our conception for a 

 purpose I shall afterwards notice. Con- 

 trast these leaves and their soft easy 

 character with the sharp swords of the 



62 



