1371. ] 
PRIMULA JAPONICA. 
121 
PKIMULA JAPONICA. 
WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 
I AIL! Queen of the Primroses!—for so its introducer designates the lovely 
flower we now figure, which is hardy as a peasant, resplendent as a prin¬ 
cess. It is just ten years since Mr. Fortune met with it in Japan, a 
basketful of blooming plants having been brought to his door ; they were 
of course secured, but the journey home was too much for them, and despite every 
■care none reached England alive. Ever since that time endeavours have been 
made to introduce this lovely plant, but till now without success, since the seeds 
have been found to lose their germinating power in the course of transmission to 
Europe. At last, however, perseverance has been rewarded, and from seeds sent to 
Mr. Fortune, by W. Keswick, Esq., of China, and Messrs. Walsh, Hall, and Co., of 
Japan, plants have been raised in the establishment of Mr. Bull, of Chelsea, whence 
our figure is derived. Our gardens have thus secured a perfectly new, thoroughly 
hardy, and exquisitely lovely primrose, one which is not only valuable on account 
of its intrinsic beauty, but doubly valuable as placing in the hands of the 
hybridizer important new materials, which will no doubt soon be turned to 
good account. 
This Primula japonica, which has been characterized by Professor A. Gray 
in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (vol. vi., new series), may be 
described as a vigorous-growing, stemless perennial, with oblong-spathulate, rugose, 
sharply denticulate leaves, six to eight inches long, and about three inches broad. 
The scape is stout, erect, smooth, 1—1J ft. high, bearing four or five distinct 
whorls of from 10 to 14 flowers, each flower having a subulate bract at the base of 
its pedicel. The flowers are about an inch in diameter, of a lively magenta 
colour, and the limb is flat, with obcordate distinct or overlapping segments, the 
individual flowers being altogether very suggestive of those of a highly-coloured 
Phlox Drummondii. Of the general aspect of the plant Mr. Fitch’s figure gives 
a very good representation. It may be added that on the occasion of its being- 
exhibited at the meeting of the Boyal Horticultural Society on May 3rd, its first 
public appearance in England, it was voted a First-Class Certificate by acclamation. 
One great merit of this new Japanese Primrose is that it yields varieties no 
less beautiful than itself. Already the following distinct forms have been noted :— 
P. japonica lilacina : this has flowers rather larger than the type ; the eye is surrounded 
by a well-defined zone of orange-red, shading outwards to a beautiful rosy lilac, the outer por¬ 
tion of the corolla lobes being white. This very chaste-looking variety has been exhibited, and 
has received a First-Class Certificate. 
P. japonica alba: this has white flowers, with a golden-yellow zone round the eye, and the 
flowers are rather below the average size. 
P. japonica carminata: this very distinct form has the flowers of a pure carmine red, with 
a maroon-crimson ring round the eye. 
P. japonica splendida : a variety of dwarfer, denser, and more stocky habit than the type, 
the flowers above the average size, of a deep bright magenta, the zone of a rich bright crimson, 
surrounding a broad and open eye, which shows the yellow interior of the tube; the segments 
of the flower are very slightly overlapping. This is one of the most brilliant varieties yet 
obtained. 
3rd SERIES.- 
-IV. 
a 
