ORDERS 93 
PRIMULACEA:. 
The Primrose (Primula vulgaris). 
A herb, with radical, simple, undivided leaves. 
Inflorescence : flowers apparently solitary, but really forming 
an umbel, the common stalk being short and concealed by the 
leaves. : | 
Type. 
Flowers: regular and hypogynous. 
Calyx (sepals): 5, joined, inferior. 
Corolla (petals): 5, joined, hypogynous. 
Andrecwum (stamens): 5, free, upon the petals ; opposite to, 
not alternate with, the petals. 
Gynecium (carpels): 5, joined, superior; placentation free 
central (Fig. 39). : 
It is not possible to see that there are five carpels without 
the microscope, but as the fruit dehisces by ten teeth, it may 
be assumed that there are five carpels. Compare with this 
the number of carpels and dehiscence of the capsule in the 
Order Caryophyllacez, p. 80. In the Pimpernel five carpels 
may be seen. 
The Primrose has two forms of flowers, and is, therefore, 
sald to be dimorphic (Gk. di=two ; morphos=form), Figs. 62, 
63. This insures cross-pollination (p. 52). 
The Cowslip, another species of the genus Primula, has an 
umbel of flowers. The Oxlip differs from the Cowslip in 
having a broader and flatter corolla ; it is much less abundant 
than the Cowslip, requiring richer soil. The Cowslip, Oxlip, 
and all the species belonging to the genus Primula, have 
dimorphic flowers. 
Other common plants belonging to this Order are the 
Pimpernels (Fig. 42), the Lysimachias, of which the Creeping 
Jenny and Wood Lysimachia are, perhaps, the best known. 
The latter closely resembles the Common Pimpernel, but 1s 
yellow, not red. 
Cyclamen, found wild commonly in Switzerland, is much 
cultivated in England; its drooping flowers, with the petals 
turned upwards, easily distinguish it from other genera. 
