﻿sending down numerous very long round whitish fibres ; it has a 

 singular smell, somewhat like that of Anise. Leaves all radical, 

 inversely egg-oblong, hoary, more finely downy and soft than in 

 either Primula vulgaris , or P. elalior, contracted in the middle, so 

 as frequently to become heart-shaped, as it were, with winged foot- 

 stalks ; their margin toothed and wavy. Scapes ( stalks ) few, 2 or 

 3 times longer than the leaves, round, upright, pale, villose, termi- 

 nated by an umbell of flowers, which are unequally pedicelled, each 

 pedicle (partial flower-stalk) accompanied at the base by a small, 

 concave, pale, pointed bractea. Calyx 5-cornered, downy. Limb of 

 the Corolla much smaller than in the Oxlip ( Primula elatiorj, 

 concave, or cup-shaped, of a deeper yellow on the upper side, with 

 5 orange-coloured spots at the base ; in these spots Shakspeare, 

 who has described the blossoms of the Cowslip with a degree of 

 accuracy almost botanical, supposed their sweet odour lo reside. 



“ The cowslips tall her pensioners be, 



In their gold coats spots we see; 



Those be rubies, fairy favours, 



In those freckles live their savours.” — Mids. Night's Dream. 



The blossoms of the Cowslip, in its wild state, usually hang to one side, a 

 character which has not escaped the notice of some of our Poets. 



Thus Thompson, in his Seasons — 



“ Then seek the bank where flowering elders crowd, 



Where scatter’d wild the Lily of the Vale 



Its balmy essence breathes, where cowslips hang 



The dewy head, where purple violets lurk.” — Spring, 1. 143. 



Milton, in his Lycidas, calls them — 



“ Cowslips wan that hang the pensive head.” 



And one of our favourite modern poets alludes to the dumping of the blossoms 

 of this plant, in the following beautiful lines. 



“ Now in my walk with sweet surprise 

 I see the first Spring Cowslip rise, 



The plant whose pensile flowers 

 Bend to the earth their beauteous eyes, 



In sunshine, as in showers.” — Montgomery. 



The leaves of the Cowship are sometimes eaten as a pot-herb, and in salads; 

 and they are recommended for feeding silk-worms, before the leaves of the mul- 

 berry tree make their appearance. The blossoms are used for making a pleasant 

 wine, approaching in flavour to the Museadel wines of the south of France. It 

 is commonly supposed to possess a somniferous quality. The process of making 

 this wine is alluded to by Montgomery, in the following lines. 



“ Where thick thy primrose blossoms play. 



Lovely and innocent as they, 



O’er coppice, lawns, and dells, 



In bands the village children stray 

 To pluck thy honied bells: 



Whose simple sweets, with curious skill, 



The frugal cottage dames distil, 



Nor envy France the vine ; 



While many a festal cup they fill 

 Of Britain’s homely wine.” 



Sir J. F.. Smith mentions a dark-flowered variety, called the Black Cowslip, 

 having been sent to him from Bedfordshire, by the late Rev. Hr. Abuoit, with 

 the calyx divided to the base; and from Northumberland, by Mr. Winch, 

 with the same part unaltered. 



An hose in hose vaiiety of. the Cowslip is cultivated in gardens; and both 

 Gerarde and Parkinson figure a variety of it with full flowers, which they 

 describe as being common in gardens in their time (1597—1629) ; this variety is 

 now very rare. 



