26 
WILD FLOWERS OF THE BRITISH ISLES 
Calyx-tube not angular ; leaves not wrinkled, mealy beneath ; corolla-lobes deeply 
notched. 
(4) Bird’s-eye Primrose. (Prim'ula farinosa.) — Flowers shortly stalked, pale lilac, in a cluster 
terminating a longer stalk ; corolla-lobes narrow ; leaves narrow. 
(5) Scottish Bird’s-eye Primrose. (Prim'ulafscot'ica.) — Flowers shortly stalked, blue-purple, 
in a cluster terminating a longer stalk ; corolla-lobes broad, touching one another ; 
leaves broad. 
1 . Primrose. (Prim'ula vulgaris. Huds.) — As just described. One of our best 
known and earliest spring flowers. The flowers are 1-2 inches across, sweet-scented, of a pale 
greenish-yellow, singularly bright and pure for so delicate and complex a colour ; they appear 
to be solitary on long hairy pink stalks, hardly rising above the leaves, but they are really in a 
cluster (umbel) on such short leafless stalks (scapes) as to appear sessile ; the calyx-tube is 
angular, 5-sided, with long shaggy hairs, the lobes pointed ; the spreading limb of the corolla is 
flat, the lobes notched, and the throat of the tube is contracted and has 5 scale-like folds ; 
the capsule opens at the top by 5 teeth. The leaves are all from the root in a rosette, egg- 
shaped, with the broad end at the top (obovate), and narrowing gradually to the base, slightly 
toothed, very much wrinkled, hairy beneath. ( Primula acaulis. Linn. ; under Primula veris. 
Hook.) [ Plate 8. 
Very common. Woods, hedge-banks, and meadows ; commonly distributed over England, 
Scotland, and Ireland. March — June. 
2. Cowslip, Paigrle. (Prim'ula veris. Linn.) — The general growth is similar to that 
of the last species, but the flowers are smaller, £-§ inch across, more or less drooping, sweet- 
scented, funnel-shaped, not spreading, bright yellow, with an orange mark at the base of each 
corolla-lobe, in clusters (umbels) on short stalks all rising from the same point on a long erect 
downy stalk 4 inches to 1 foot high, rising above the leaves ; the calyx is larger and more inflated, 
with short broad obtuse teeth ; and the leaves are abruptly contracted at the base. (. Primula 
officinalis. Jacquin.) \Plate 8. 
Common, though rather local. On meadows, banks, pastures, in England, Scotland, and Ireland ; 
not so common in Scotland as in England. April — May. Perennial. 
3. Oxlip. (Prim'ula elatior. Jacquin.) — A species similar to the Cowslip (Primula 
veris), with the clusters like those of the Cowslip, except that the flowers droop all to one side of the 
stem and are larger, each individual flower being more like a small Primrose, though the lobes are 
narrower, and there are no folds round the throat of the corolla, neither is the tube contracted ; 
the calyx-teeth also are longer and narrower and very pointed. There are many intermediate 
forms between the Cowslip and the Oxlip which are generally called Oxlips, but the true Oxlip 
has the above characteristics. [ Plate 8. 
Local. In woods in some of the eastern counties, in Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, Hertfordshire, and 
Essex. April — May. Perennial. 
4. Bird's-eye Primrose. (Prim'ula farinosa. Linn.) — A lovely little flower with a 
compact cluster (umbel) of small pale lilac flowers with a yellow eye, terminating an erect stalk, 
2-8 inches high ; the calyx narrowly bell-shaped, not angular ; the leaves all in a rosette, small and 
egg-shaped, with the broad end at the apex, almost imperceptibly narrowed at the base into a wing 
down the stalk, not wrinkled, and more or less thickly covered with a white mealy down. 
[Plate 8. 
