PRIMULA VERIS -COMMON COWSLIP. 
Class V. PENTANDRIA. Order I. MONOGYNIA. 
Natural Order, PRIMULACEJL — THE PRIMROSE TRIBE. 
Calyx inferior, monosepalous (of 1 sepal) tubular, upright, with 5 pointed teeth, and 5 angles, regular, 
permanent. Corolla monopetalous, salver-shaped, tube cylindrical, as long as the calyx ; limb spreading in 
5 rather deep inversely heart-shaped segments; mouth open. Filaments 5, in the throat of the corolla, 
very short, and opposite to the segments of the limb. Anthers upright, pointed, converging within the 
tube. Germen globular. Style thread-shaped, the length of the calyx. Stigma globular. Capsule cylindri- 
cal, of 1 cell, opening at the top with 10 upright parallel teeth. Seeds numerous, roundish, attached to an 
oblong, central receptacle or placenta. The 1 -celled capsule, opening with 10 teeth; the salver-shaped corolla 
with a cylindrical tube, open in the throat; and the globular stigma; will distinguish this from other genera 
with a monopetalous, inferior corolla, and numerous covered seeds, in the same class and order. 
Ben Jonson, with his usual tendency to overdo a matter of learning, calls cowslip, “ lippes of cows.” 
The name is derived, as some think, from their resemblance of scent to the breath of a cow; perhaps from 
growing much in pasture grounds, and often meeting the cow’s lip. As beautiful objects of culture, they 
rank among the most esteemed for their beautifully bright colour, and we love them for being the heralds of 
spring. Gerard, in that curious old book of his, says, “They are commonly called Primula Veris, because 
they are the first among those plants that doe floure in the spring, or because they floure with the first. 
They are also named A rthriticce and Herbce paralysis, for they are thought to be good against the paines 
of the joints and sinews. They are called in Italian Brache cuculi, in English Petty Malleins, or Palsie- 
worts: of most, cowslips.” 
The blossoms are used for making wine. Farley says, “Take twelve pounds of sugar, the juice of six 
lemons, the whites of four eggs well beaten, and six gallons of water. Put all together in a kettle, and 
let it boil half an hour, taking care to skim it well. Take a peck of cowslips, and put them into a tub, 
with the thin peeling of six lemons. Then pour on the boiling liquor, and stir them about, and when it is 
almost cold, put in a thin toast, baked hard, and rubbed with yest. Let it stand two or three days to work. 
If you put in, before you tun it, six ounces of syrup of citron or lemon, with a quart of Rhenish wine, it 
will be a great addition. The third day strain it off, and squeeze the cowslips through a coarse cloth. Then 
strain it through a flannel bag, and tun it up. Leave the bung loose for two or three days till you be sure 
It has done working, and then bung it down tight, let it stand three months, and then bottle it. 
It is accounted soporific, and thus recommended by Pope: 
“ for want of rest, 
Lettuce and Cowslip wine : probatum est.” 
The flowers are, for the same purpose, sometimes mixed with tea, or infused alone. They have like- 
wise been considered antispasmodic, whence probably the French designation, Herbes de la Paralysie. The 
leaves are sometimes eaten as a pot herb and in salads. The root has a fine scent, like aniseed. Silk worms 
are fond of the leaves and flowers, but the silk thus produced is not of the best quality. Milton elegantly 
defines the appropriate tints of these favourite congeners: 
“The flowery May, who from her green lap throws, 
The yellow cowslip and the pale primrose.” 
And Shakespeare depicts the saffron-coloured spots of the blossom as “Fairy favours,” in his Mid- 
summer Night’s Dream: 
“ Over park, over pale, 
Through flood, through fire, 
I do wander every where, 
Swifter than the moone’s sphere ; 
And I serve the fairy queen, 
To dew her orbs upon the green : 
The following is by Howitt, on finding an early cowslip : 
The cowslip tall her pensioners be ; 
In their gold coats spots you see ; 
Those be rubies, fairy favours, 
In those freckles live their savours, 
I must go seek some dew drops here, 
And hang a pearl in every cowslip’s ear. 
“ It is the same ! It is the very scent, 
That bland, yet luscious, meadow breathing sweet, 
Which I remember when my childish feet, 
With a new life’s rejoicing spirit went, 
Thro’ the deep grass with wild flowers richly bent 
That smiled to high Heav’n from their verdant seat, 
But it brings not tp thee such joy complete : 
Thou can’st not see, as I do, how we spent, 
In blessedness, in sunshine, and in flowers, 
The beautiful noon ; and then, how seated round 
The odorous pile, upon the shady ground, 
A boyish group we laughed away the hours, 
Plucking the yellow blooms for future wine, 
While o’er us play’d a mother’s smile divine.” 
The leaves of the cowslip are recommended for feeding silk worms, before the leaves of the mulberry 
tree make their appearance. Cowslips are commonly supposed to possess somniferous quality. The pro- 
cess of making this wine is alluded to by Montgomery in the following lines : 
