140 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



that is found within its clan, if I may so say, as the species about 

 which I speak next shows. 



Chinese Species of the Auganthus Section. 

 P. sinensis, Lindl. (Fig. 41.) 



Section Filchnerae. 



Primula Filchnerae, R. Knuth et Diels, is a plant discovered 

 in 1904 on the Tsingling range of mountains near Sianfu. It is not 

 exactly a close ally of P. sinensis, Lindl., but it has consanguinity. 

 The feature in it which calls for special mention is the segmentation 

 of the leaves. Each leaf is pinnatisect, the lobes are pinnatifid, and the 

 ultimate lobules again toothed, even cleft in the lower leaf-segments. 

 We may expect to discover other and grading forms. Meanwhile 

 P. Filchnerae, R. Knuth et Diels, stands as a unique type. 



Chinese Species of the Filchnerae Section. 

 P. Filchnerae, R. Knuth et Diels 



Section Cortusoides. 



This section has its chief development in Asia outside China. 

 Of its eight species one is endemic in Japan — P. kisoana, Miq. ; 

 one is Japanese and Asiatic — P. Sieboldii, E. Morren ; three are 

 continental Asiatic — P. cortusoides, Linn., P. Kaufmanniana, Regel, 

 P. saxatilis, Kom. ; and three — P. polyneura, Franch., P. Veitchii, 

 Duthie, P. lichiangensis, G. Forrest — are Chinese. The conspicuous 

 ribbing of the calyx-tube and lobes associated with the leaf-form are 

 the characters which distinguish the section. 



P. Veitchii, Duthie, has been in cultivation since 1906, in which 

 year it was introduced by Messrs. Veitch, having been raised from 

 seeds collected by Wilson. It is one of the glories of our gardens : 

 hardy, free-growing and free-flowering, and in every way an accom- 

 modating species. In 1908 Bees, Ltd., sent out P. lichiangensis, 

 G. Forrest — described first of all by Forrest as P. cortusoides var. 

 lichiangensis, G. Forrest. It resembles closely P. Veitchii, Duthie, from 

 which it is distinguished by its less hairy foliage not white underneath 

 and its more drooping larger flowers with larger eye and purple 

 anthers ; in P. Veitchii, Duthie, the anthers are yellow. Possibly 

 P. Veitchii, Duthie, and P. lichiangensis, G. Forrest, are only minor 

 forms of P. polyneura, Franchet. 



It is germane to what I write about this section to say that 

 P. cortusoides, Linn., is apparently a rare species nowadays in gardens, 

 although gardening books tell us it has been in cultivation since 1791. 

 There are many plants so called in cultivation, but they are either 

 forms of P. Sieboldii, E. Morren, or are P. saxatilis, Kom. Professor 

 Pax has made the relationship clear. P. cortusoides, Linn., is a 

 plant of Western Siberia, extending from the Urals to the Altai, but 

 not beyond. It is recognized by the short pedicels of the flowers. 



