PRIM'ULA AURI'CULA. 
AURICULA. Bearless's Superb. 
Order. 
MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order. 
PRIMOLACE JE. 
Native of 
Height. 
Flowers in 
Duration. 
Cultivated 
Switzerland. 
6 inches. 
April, May 
Perennial. 
in 1597. 
No. 203. 
Primula, from the Latin primus, first, alludes to 
some of its species being the earliest flowers pro- 
duced by spring. The name Auricula, from the Latin, 
signifying an ear, is a name of long standing. Three 
hundred years ago these plants were called Auricula 
ursi, or Bears’ ears, from the formation of their 
leaves ; hence the term, Auricula, has still prevailed, 
both in systematic and in common language. 
The present green-edged variety is known as 
Bearless’s Superb. It is not of very late introduc- 
tion, but considered, by florists, a desirable flower, 
and would be still more so but that its tendency to 
produce offsets, frequently weakens the plant, as 
well as renders it more easy to be obtained. 
As all our readers may not be skilled in the tech- 
nicalities of the Auricula fancy, it may not be amiss 
to inform them that florists divide the numerous 
varieties into five distinct classes, viz. green-edged ; 
grey-edged ; white-edged ; seifs, or self-coloured ; 
and alpines, or shaded seifs. 
In the estimation of florists, the qualifications re- 
quiried in the Auricula, and others of their favourites, 
are rather numerous ; and although it must be 
Class. 
PENTANDR1A. 
