OP ORNAMENTAL PERENNIALS. 
159 
1.— PRIMULA PR^NITENS, Ker. THE CHINESE PRIMROSE. 
Synonyme. — P. sinensis, Lindl. 
Engravings. — Bot. Reg., t. 539 ; Bot. Mag., t. 2564 ; Sweet’s 
Brit. Flow. Gard., t. 196; and our fig. 1, in PI. 93. 
Specific Character. — Pubescent ; umbel duplicate ; calyx mem- 
branaceous, ovate, ventricose, many-cleft ; capsule inflatedly distended ; 
segments of the corolla sharply dentate. 
Description, &c. — The Chinese Primrose was first known in this country from some dried specimens sent 
over by Mr. Reeves, a gentleman in the employment of the East India Company at Canton ; but living plants 
were not introduced till 1820, when they were sent over by Captain Rawes, a gentleman to whom we owe the 
introduction of many beautiful Chinese plants. The species, when first introduced, was called P. sinensis ; but 
it being found that Loureiro, the Portuguese botanist, had called another plant Primula sinensis, the Chinese 
Primrose received its present specific name, which signifies glossy, and seems very ill applied to a plant covered 
nearly all over with down. For many years after its introduction, the only varieties known of the Chinese 
Primrose were a kind with white flowers, and another, the flowers of which were much jagged or cut ; but 
lately a great many varieties have been raised, some of which are double, or semi-double. 
2.— PRIMULA CORTUSOIDES, Lin. THE CORTUSA-LEAVED PRIMROSE. 
Engraving. — Bot. Mag., t. 399. 
Specific Character. — Leaves petiolate, cordate, sub-lobate, crenated. 
Description, &c. — This is a very handsome little plant, a native of Siberia, whence it was introduced in 
1794 . The leaves are wrinkled, as is common in many kinds of Primula; but they present the peculiar shape 
of those of the Cortusa. It flowers in June and July, and is propagated either by seeds or by division of the 
root. In winter it loses its leaves entirely, and forms a tuberous hybernaculum under-ground, a circumstance the 
more necessary to be known, as it subjects the plant to be thrown away as dead. 
3.— PRIMULA ACAULIS, Jacq. THE COMMON PRIMROSE, 
Synonyme. — P. vulgaris, Smith. 1 Specific Character. — Leaves rugose, dentate, hairy beneath ; 
Engravings. — Bot. Mag., t. 229 ; and our fig. 3, in PI. 94. | scape one-flowered. 
Description, &c. — The common British Primrose is so well known, as scarcely to need description, and in 
their native state they are generally found to grow best in a stiff loam, and in a moist and somewhat shady 
situation. The single flower, being a common British plant, is rarely cultivated in gardens ; but the double 
varieties are very common, and very much admired. There are several kinds; but the most common are the 
double lilac, the double crimson, and the double yellow. There is also a double scarlet, which is sometimes 
very dark and rich ; and there is a double white, but this last is rarely met with. 
4.— PRIMULA ELATIOR, Smith. THE OXLIP. 
Engravings. — Eng. Bot., t. 513, and 2nd ed., t. 276. I toothed, wrinkled ; limb of the corolla flat, as long as the tube ; teeth 
Specific Character. — Leaves ovate, contracted below the middle, | of the calyx subulate ; umbel upon a long stalk. 
Description, &c. — The Oxlip is much less common than either the Cowslip or the common Primrose ; 
and it has, indeed, been sometimes supposed to be a natural hybrid between these two plants. The species is 
seldom cultivated in gardens ; but its well-known variety, the Polyanthus, with its numerous sub-varieties, are 
some of our most favourite garden flowers. One of these, figured in Plate 94, is Burnard’s formosa ; and this 
