April 24, 188G. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
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3 
The Leaf. —This varies in breadtli from \ in. in the 
form called minimus, to 1 in. in some varieties of the 
section bicolor. It also varies much in thickness. The 
breadth is not always in proportion to the thickness or 
length of the leaf, or to the height or size of the flower. 
The leaves of some varieties are much twisted. In 
srme they are far more conspicuously covered with 
glaucous bloom than in others. Some taper acutely at 
the ends, some are very bluntly rounded off, some de¬ 
cumbent, some upright. I cannot find any variety of 
form in leaf cross sections. As for the number of leaves 
to each flowering scape, I find that about 70 per cent, 
have three, the remaining thirty are nearly equally 
divided between two, four, and five leaves. In the 
section bicolor, however, the larger number of flower 
scapes have four leaves belonging to them, and some as 
many as seven. In estimating this number care must 
be taken not to confuse the leaves belonging to 
different centres of growth in the same bulb. A bulb 
may produce only one flower scape, and twenty or more 
leaves, but then there are three or four centres, each of 
which will develop a new bulb as the growth matures. 
At the top of the scape there is a sort of joint or valve, 
where begins a membrane called the spathe, which en¬ 
tirely envelopes the flower whilst in bud. It sometimes 
fits tight and close, sometimes is very loose, either at 
the base or at the point, or both, as if far too large for 
the bud it encloses. Beginning also at the valve of the 
spathe is a distinct stalk, more slender than the scape, 
called the pedicel. Two-flowered scapes have two 
pedicels, but only one spathe. The pedicel connects 
the scape with the seed pod or fruit. It is mostly in 
this pedicel that the bending or deflexion takes place 
upon which depends the angle of the flower to the 
scape. The pedicel may be quite straight or turned at 
right angles to the scape at the spathe valve, or bent 
into a complete semi-circle, or any intermediate form. 
The commonest form is that of a quadrant, or fourth 
part of the circumference of a circle. The seed pod, 
which we will call the fruit, is round or ellipitical— i.e., 
oval, furrowed, or smooth, and should be studied when 
swelled to its full size. 
Now, what are these characters worth in estimating 
varietal differences? Not much taken singly, but 
several together, if found to be constant, are worth a 
good deal. Some who have studied Daffodils have 
thought the mouth of the corona so important a 
character as to supersede all others in deciding varieties. 
Next to this in importance comes, I think, the arrange¬ 
ment of the perianth divisions, the question whether 
they are imbricated or free. The length of the pedicel 
is moderately constant, according to the variety. The 
relative length of the style and the filaments often 
differs in the same variety, but Herbert, a careful 
botanist who studied Daffodils about the same time as 
Haworth, thought that he had observed that in some 
varieties of Pseudo-Narcissus the six filaments are 
attached to the base of the tube in two different rows. 
This arrangement of the filaments in a double series is 
an obvious character in many species of Narcissus ; but 
after examining a large number of Pseudo-Narcissus I 
have not been able to discover any difference of length 
of the six filaments exists in any variety. This should 
be observed. The same botanist, Herbert, attached 
importance to the wrinkling or furrowing often ob¬ 
servable in the fruit and to its shape ; neither is very 
constant, but both are worth notice. The comparative 
length of the perianth divisions and the corona often 
varies in the same variety, as anyone who will spend a 
little time amongst a bed of English wild typical 
Pseudo-Narcissus may satisfy himself. The form of 
the spathe before opening is also to be noticed. Some 
varieties may be recognised by this alone. Another 
distinction, though by no means constant, is the 
curvature of the pedicel. When the flower is fully 
expanded, the corona becoming either cernuous—that 
is, looking downwards, or horizontal or even perpen¬ 
dicular ; the pedicel remaining straight, though this 
form is generally abnormal ; the angle which the 
perianth divisions, when open make with the corona is 
also a character. I find neither the section of the scape 
nor of the leaf a trustworthy varietal character in 
Pseudo-Narcissus as a species colour is an important 
point. The varieties are either concolorous or bi- 
colorous— i.e., either self-coloured, the corona, however, 
being always a little deeper than the perianth, or 
distinctly two-coloured. The English wild type is 
never, as far as I know, concolorous, aud varies in 
colour within narrow limits ; apparent exceptions to 
this rule which sometimes occur I believe to be due to 
cross-breeding. I shall speak of them presently. 
Daffodils of the same variety rarely vary much in 
colour. A form of N. minor found near Grosse in the 
Maritime Alps is an important and interesting exception 
to this rule. It remains to speak of size and time of 
flowering. To judge of the former, Daffodils must be 
grown together for a year or two under the same con¬ 
ditions ; and as for time of flowering, I find that the 
time when different individuals of the typical form open 
their flowers extends over a month, and though the 
same bulbs are early or late every year alike, one cannot 
attach importance to the difference. 
Immediately above the fruit is that part of the flower 
in which the base of the style and the filaments are 
fixed, and which in Pseudo-Narcissus is like a funnel 
or an inverted cone. This is called the tube. It is 
important to remember this name, because we often find 
the word tube wrongly applied to the part I shall next 
describe—viz., the trumpet, called by some botanists 
the trunk, but which I shall speak of as the corona or 
crown. This begins where the tube ends, and from the 
line of juncture of the tube with the corona there grow 
outsixflower leaves, sometimes called limbs or segments, 
but which I shall call divisions of the perianth. They 
correspond to petals and sepals alternately ; the three 
which represent sepals generally overlap at their edges 
and base the three inner, which represent petals. When 
this is so the divisions of the perianth are said to be 
imbricated (which properly means arranged like tiles on 
the roof) ; but if the divisions when closed so as to touch 
the corona do not overlap, especially near the base, they 
are said to be not imbricated or free. I ask you to 
attend especially to the above important character. 
Next we find that the divisions are sometimes shorter 
than, generally just the same length as, often a little 
longer than the corona. The perianth divisions are 
often twisted, or in some forms doubled back along the 
central line, and curved like a horn towards the end of 
the corona. The shape of the corona is rather 
cylindrical, the sides when looked at in profile being 
parallel, or it approaches a funnel in shape, the boundary 
lines diverging from the base to the mouth, or (rarely) 
it is larger at the middle than at either end, its shape is 
then called ventricose. The mouth of the corona varies 
more than any other part of the flower in the forms of 
Pseudo-Narcissus. In some forms we find at the mouth 
hardly any enlargement in the diameter of the straight 
corona ; more commonly the corona bulges out near 
the mouth, but without turning back, whilst in many 
varieties the mouth spreads and is recurved like the 
mouth of a trumpet. Recurved is a better word to 
express this form than reflexed, which implies an angular 
and less gradual turn. The petals of a Cyclamen are 
reflexed, those of a Martagon recurved. With rare and 
abnormal exceptions the mouth of the corona is divided 
by incisions—more or less deep according to the variety 
—into six equal lobes corresponding to the six divisions 
of the perianth. When the flower becomes double these 
divisions or incisions are continued to the base of the 
corona, so as to split it up into six parts. The lobes 
are often cut up at the edges by irregular notches, 
generally wedge shaped, and varying in depth, into 
smaller divisions of uncertain size and number. This 
is called crenation, and the lobes are then called crenate 
—that is, notched. When the parts between these 
notches are doubled up together like a piece of crimped 
paper, or a nearly closed fan, the edge of the corona, is 
called plicate (or folded), and when these folds are 
pushed together so as to displace one another into a sort 
of flounced or puckered outline, it is called crispate 
(fringed or fimbriated), the edge then resembles a leaf 
of garden Parsley or curled Kale. It is a rare form. 
( To be continued.) 
- —>*<- - 
THE PRIMULA CONFERENCE. 
Whatever may be the ultimate results of the con¬ 
ference held at South Kensington on Wednesday, there 
can be no question as to the utility of the display of 
species and varieties held on that and the preceding 
day, for it was both extensive and varied—at least, as 
much so as could reasonably have been expected, con¬ 
sidering the season. Taken as a whole, it served to 
illustrate the fact that in the genus Primula, if we take 
away the hardy Primroses, Auriculas and Polyanthuses, 
the Chinese and Japanese Primroses, and a few well- 
know species, the remainder are of botanical interest 
only, that is to say they are only fully appreciated by 
botanists, or those few who have taken up the genus as 
a speciality, and can never be the subjects of popular 
cultivation. The president of the conference, Mr. John 
T. D. Llewelyn, had the honour of showing by far the 
best grown specimens of species of Primulas, with which 
he took the first and second prizes, and among which 
were the finest examples of P. rosea that have ever 
been exhibited ; beautiful examples of P. Sieboldii, P. 
japonica, P. obconica (one of the most attractive and 
most useful decorative plants of recent introduction) 
P. floribunda, P. Auricula, P. viscosa nivalis, &c. 
Messrs. James Veitch & Sons contributed the smallest 
species of all, four very little plants, in a very small 
pian of I’, mistassinica or P. borealis, the leaves of which 
are about J in. long, the flower-stalk from 1 in. to I-i ins. 
high, and the white or pale rose tinted blossom J in. 
across. P. scotica is only a small species, but P. 
borealis is scarcely a fourth of its size. The Messrs. 
Veitch’s specimens were the only ones in the exhibition, 
and naturally attracted much notice. Near at hand, 
as if so placed for the purpose of comparison, was the 
largest Primrose flower staged—a fancy Auricula with 
blossoms measuring 2J ins. across, the body colour 
purple, the edging pale lilac, and the paste sulphur- 
yellow, and showing a tendency to doubling. It is 
one of those strange productions with which raisers of 
Primula seedlings are familiar, and not inappropriately 
bore the legend “Ye Evolution of ye Auricula.” Mr. 
R. Dean was the exhibitor of this singular plant. 
Tire Botanic Gardens represented by collections, were 
Ivew, Edinburgh, and Glasnevin ; and naturally, being 
nearest home, Kew staged the largest number, some 
118 species and varieties. The rare sorts shown in this 
collection, included P. Facchinii (a hybrid between 
minima and spectabilis) ; P. longiflora, P. venusta, 
P. carniolica, P. admontensis, P. Allioni, and P. Warei, 
a supposed hybrid between P. formosa and T. scotica ; 
with these were also the true P. viscosa, P. Olgae, pink 
with white centre; P. involucrata, and its variety 
Monroi, and P. involucrata var. Boveaua, besides the 
best known decorative species. From Kew also came a 
series of six sheets of hand-painted species of Primula 
by Mr. Sedner of Munich. The Edinburgh and Glas 
nevin collections were much smaller, but only propor¬ 
tionately less interesting than the former. In the 
group which Mr. Lindsay staged, was the finest example 
in the show of T. obconica, and which will doubtless 
have caused many to determine to add it to their 
collections. 
Messrs. James Backhouse & Son, \ ork, also sent a 
considerable number of plants, though many of them 
were unavoidably backward in condition. This collec¬ 
tion was rich in the various forms of P. marginata, and 
included also the rare Californian species, P. suffruticosa, 
the rare P. fiagellicaulis, a pretty hybrid with fine rosy 
purple flowers ; P. ciliata purpurea, one of the snowiest 
of rock plants, and P. Allioni, with pretty mauve 
coloured, solitary flowers. J. T. Poe, Esq., Riverston, 
Nenagli, sent a dozen bunches of hardy yellow and 
fancy Primroses all of fine size and very bright colours. 
