CHINESE PRIMUL LS. 



101 



I have copied the figures referred to, as I think they will 

 enable my hearers to better appreciate the interesting details 

 given by Dr. Masters in his article. 



The Distribution of Species. 



The distribution of the species is evidently very restricted, for 

 Y-Chang alone is mentioned as a " habitat " by Delavay, Henry, 

 Watters, and Hance inForbes and Hemsley's " Enumeration of all 

 the Plants from China Proper," now in the course of publication 

 in the Journal of the Linncan Society. 



With reference to its being a native of China, I find in the 

 report of the Primula Conference, in the Royal Horticultural 



Fig. 17. 



(From the Gardeners'' Chronicle.) 

 Society's Journal, vol. vii. p. 190, it is stated as follows : " We 

 liave also received an interesting note from the director of the 

 Hong Kong Botanical Garden, a record of the culture of this 

 same P. sinensis in China. He says, 1 \Ye manage to grow the 

 cultivated varieties of P. sinensis in Hong Kong during the cold 

 season, but they invariably damp off when hot weather sets in ; 

 they have not even time to mature their seeds. We have there- 

 fore to get a fresh supply from England every autumn.' " 



Introduction of the Chinese Primula into Europe. 



The earliest date named in connection with the culture of the 

 Chinese Primula (according to an article which appeared in the 

 Gardening World, December 17, 1887) is the year 1819. The 



