Plate 66. 
SMITH’S LYCURGUS AURICULA. 
Primula Auricula , var . 
The ardent and loudly expressed wish of all lovers of this 
beautiful spring flower, that a national exhibition of it should 
be held in London, seems well-nigh likely to be fulfilled, a 
larger number having been shown at one of the early spring- 
shows of the Royal Botanic Society this season, than has 
been the case since the days when Mr. Dickson, of Acre Lane, 
and other growers, used to compete at 44 The Horns,” Kenning- 
ton. Independently of the plants staged for competition, Mr. 
Turner, of Slongh, sent a collection of sixty varieties, and the 
Rev. George Jeans, of Alford, some fine plants of new kinds; 
and, if report be true, the number will be largely increased 
next season. Amongst the novelties sent by the latter gentle¬ 
man, few excited so much admiration as the very fine variety 
figured in our Plate, and called Lycurgus. It is, we believe, of 
Scotch origin, and will deservedly take a high place amongst 
other flowers of the class to which it belongs, viz. the green- 
edged varieties. Its excellence will be seen, if we allude to 
those points which, in the estimation of connoisseurs, constitute 
a good Auricula. The individual flower or pip (several of 
which make up the truss) is composed of four parts,—the tube 
or eye, the paste, the ground-colour, and the edge; these 
should bear nearly an equal proportion in the flower. The 
eye ought to be orange, or, at any rate, a bright yellow, and 
the stamens and pistil should not project above it; the paste 
should be very white, solid, and without cracks; the ground¬ 
colour should be vivid and rich, equal on all sides, and should 
only be broken at its outer edge, and then ought not to run too 
far into the true edging of the dower, which should be quite 
pure and clean. It is not to be supposed that, although these 
