1876 . ] 
THE AUEIOULA.-CHAPTER I. 
Ill 
support; and the foot-stalks allow each pip room to stand out of another’s way, 
and stiff upon the truss. 
The relative positions of the pistil and anthers within the tube are of vital 
importance. These positions vary in several ways. Specimens of any of the 
Primulas— japonica^ chinensis, denticulata^ or others—any chance handful of 
cowslips or primroses, will show that, in common with their radiant sister, the 
Auricula, the positions of pistil and anthers within their tubes are various. In 
some cases, the pistil is in or beyond the mouth of the tube, and the anthers at 
the bottom ; or the anthers are at the mouth, and the pistil among them; or 
the anthers at the mouth, and the pistil beyond them; or again, the anthers, 
which should be bold, are round the mouth of the tube, and the pistil is at 
the bottom. This last is the only allowable form in the Auricula. It is the 
neatest and prettiest arrangement, and any other but this disqualifies the whole 
flower. 
Next in order upon the disc of the pip is laid a circle of white meal, techni¬ 
cally called “ the paste.” This must be smooth, dense, circular, and white, free 
from all cracks and blemishes, and not cut into by the segments of the petals. • 
Beyond the circle of the paste follows a zone of colour known as “the ground” or 
“ body,” cut sharp and circular upon its inner edge by the paste, but feathering off 
in flashes towards the circumference. Its texture is soft and velvety, and often 
dark and downy as the sable roses on the cheeks of a bean-blossom. The 
ground-colour should be dense and bright, strictly of an uniform shade, free from 
any dots of meal, and with a lively style of marking, whether that be broad or 
delicate. Where a weak yellowish or “ foxy ” tinge creeps in between the ground 
and the paste, it forms a very unsightly fault, and howsoever pretty a shaded petal 
may be elsewhere, it is not in the Auricula a beauty so deep and pure as one 
rich colour. 
Beyond the circle of the ground, and filling up the outline of the flower, 
comes a leading loveliness—the much-prized “edge.” It is either a bright un- 
daisied green, free, that is, of all meal, or the green is frosted over with a light 
fall of meal, or else as thoroughly whitened by it as the paste itself. The edge 
determines the class of the flower, and it is a green, grey, or white edge, accord¬ 
ing to the absence or quantity of the meal upon it. The Selfs are a class in which 
the body-colour is carried through without any change of shade from the paste to 
i)he petal edge, but in their comparative plainness there is no lack of beauty. 
The space which the tube and its surrounding circles occupy upon the flower 
should be well balanced. They vary much, but taking the pistil or “ pin ” as the 
centre of all the circles, the width from pin to paste, paste to ground, ground to 
edge, and edge to circumference, may be about equal. But a broad paste and 
fine tube are strong points: only no one circle should seem to encroach upon the 
breadth that belongs to another, otherwise the flower looks either goggle-eyed, 
or cramped where a zone is narrow in proportion. The pip itself must be stout, 
circular, and flat, but the seifs have naturally a thinner texture. 
