OBSERVATIONS ON INDIAN PRIMULAS. 



209 



than a bed of P. rosea brought suddenly to view through a cleft in 

 the terminal tongue of ice. Its rich delicate rose-purple sparkles 

 against the background of ice, in a way that defies the jeweller's 

 art or the beauty of the most expensive gems. 



P. elliptica is a very similar species, except that the flowers are 

 purple, not rose-pink. P. Harrissii is an undescribed species collected 

 by Dr. Harriss in Chitral, and might be described as an intermediate 

 form between rosea and elliptica, but with the rich rose-pink flowers 

 of rosea. The specimens of it seen by me are in the Edinburgh 

 Herbarium. P. hazarica is distinctly a near relative of P. elliptica. 



P. concinna, though I have spoken of it as possibly an interloper 

 among the spurred Primulas, has been well named concinna and would 

 be an ornament to any collection of Primroses. The whole plant is 

 not more than one inch in height, but it grows in rounded cushion-like 

 masses amid the ice, stones, and sand of the moraine. I came across 

 it on the Kanglanamao pass in Sikkim, at an altitude of close on 17,000 

 feet. Its delicate scape of rose-purple flowers, with their notched 

 coronas of yellow, might truly be described as constituting one of the 

 most lovely members of this charming genus. I can well recollect 

 my feelings of delight when I found a chaotic moraine besparkled 

 with these graceful tiny flowers : they brought to mind one of my 

 boyhood triumphs — the discovery in the far North of Scotland of 

 P. scotica. 



But from what I have said of the spurred Primulas you may have 

 inferred that to grow them successfully it is essential that they should 

 be allowed to flower within the short space of early spring. For 

 the rest of the year they have as a rule to be protected from extreme 

 heat, and the best possible thing to do is to plant them on a sandy 

 bank near running water. Water preserves a more uniform tempera- 

 ture than either earth or air. The aquatic plants of Bengal are in 

 consequence far nearer to the corresponding European types than 

 are the plants grown on the margins of the tanks. Conversely, 

 therefore, plants that require much water will bear translation from 

 one climatic region to another better than plants that grow on dry 

 soils. Lastly it may be added P. Bornmiilleri is perhaps the giant 

 member of this section. 



4. Purpurea. — In point of number of forms this is the most 

 important section. There are some fifteen known species, with, under 

 some of them, numerous varieties. It is perhaps the most character- 

 istically Indian group of all. But the name Purpurea is perhaps not 

 so fully representative as could have been desired. It is one of the 

 oldest descriptive names, but one that has been perhaps more obscured 

 by conflicting opinions than any other that might have been chosen. 

 In point of colour of flowers, yellow is very much more prevalent than 

 purple, and many of the species possess both yellow and purple states 

 or varieties. Then again as to the position assigned to the section, 

 it might have been placed as No. 5 instead of No. 4, thus bringing 

 Petiolaris or petiolate-leaved forms into juxtaposition with the 



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