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PRIMULA ALTAICA. 
GESNERA CORU SCANS. (Shining -flowered Gesnera.) 
Class, Didynamia. Order, Angiospermia.. Nat. Order, Gesnerace^e. (Gesner-worts, Veg. Kingd.) 
Generic Character.— Calyx adnate to the ovary; limb 
nearly equally five-lobed. Corolla semi-superior, tubular, 
with five gibbosities at the base ; limb sub-labiate ; upper lip 
drawn out, emarginately two-lobed ; lower lip three-lobed. 
Stamens didynamous, with the rudiment of a fifth behind ; 
anthers at first cohering into a round head. Glands five, or 
fewer, around the ovary. Capsule dry in the calyx, one- 
celled ; incompletely two-valved; placentas two, parietal, 
many-seeded. Seeds scobiform. Mag. Bot. 
Specific Character. — Plant a tuberous-rooted perennial ; 
tubers scaly. Stem round, erect, herbaceous, simple, downy. 
Leaves cordate, opposite, bluntly serrated. Flowers on long 
slender peduncles, drooping. Corolla large, scarlet ; lower 
segment long, wavy. 
A new and very handsome species of Gesnera, native of South America, whence it was 
lately introduced by Messrs. Knight and Perry, Nurserymen, Chelsea. It has much of 
the character and habit of Gesnera Cooperi, especially in the form of the flower-spike and 
the disposition and colour of the flowers. 
The same treatment usually applied to Gesneras is productive of luxuriance in this 
kind, namely, abundance of heat and humidity, and to be kept dry in winter. 
Propagation is effected with the greatest facility by its leaves, or portions of the stem, 
and by tubers. 
To Conrad Gesner, a celebrated Zurich botanist, the genus was dedicated by Linnaeus. 
PRIMULA ALTAICA. (Altaic Primrose.) 
Class, Pentandria. Order, Monogynia.- — Nat. Order, Primulace^e. (Primworts, Veg. Kingd.) 
Generic Character. — Calyx tubulous, five-toothed. Co- 
rolla salver-shaped ; limb five-lobed. Orifice pervious. 
Stamens five, included. A nthers obtuse. Stigma capitate. 
Capsule five to ten-valved. — JD. Bon. 
Specific Character.— Plant perennial, resembling P. 
vulgaris. Leaves erect, broad, robust. Flowers scapeless, 
large, purple, with an orange eye, fragrant. Calyx oblong, 
tubulous, shorter than the tube of the corolla, angular. Co- 
rolla tube cylindrical; limb spreading, segments bidentate. 
Authorities and Synonymes — Primula altaica, Br. 
Lindley in Journ. Hort. Soc., and also of the Russian 
Botanists. 
This very pretty species of Primula is quite new to British gardens, and was discovered 
and introduced by C. J. Darbishire, Esq., of Rivington, near Bolton; who, whilst on a 
late visit to Constantinople, found it growing on grassy land, which had been recently 
cleared of brushwood, in the neighbourhood of Karak, a quarantine station on the Asiatic 
side of the Bosphorus, near the mouth of the Black Sea. As it was midsummer when he 
met with it, and being at that time out of bloom, he had no reason to suppose it to be 
any thing more than our common yellow primrose until it flowered in the following 
spring. 
It is perfectly hardy, enduring our winters without injury ; but as it appears to have 
a disposition to flower very early, when we have only cold and wet weather, Mr. Darbishire 
prefers taking the roots into the house at the latter end of the year : they then form 
beautiful and useful ornaments to the conservatory during the dark and dull season of 
winter, producing a profusion of bloom in succession from the end of October. The rich 
and delicate colours of the flow r ers are not fully displayed except in sunshine. 
For our present figure and particulars we are indebted to the kindness of Mr. Darbi- 
shire, who without hesitation furnished our artist with a specimen for his drawing. 
The plant is of the easiest cultivation, either in a pot or in the open borders, merely 
requiring to be planted in a light rich soil, and must when better known become an 
universal favourite. 
Propagation is effected by separation of the roots, and by seeds like the other species. 
The generic name is derived from primus , first ; in allusion to the early flowering of 
the plants. 
