PRIMULA SCOTICA. SCOTCH PRIMROSE.
P RIMULA scotica ; foliis obovato-lanceolatis farinosis denticulatis, calyce ventricoso, corollæ limbo
piano, fauce glandulosa, segmentis late obcordatis approximatis.
Class a n d Order. P EN TA N D R IA MONOGYNIA.
[Natural Order. PRIMULACEÆ, Ventenat, Brown, Hooker. LYSIMACHIÆ, Juss. ANAGAL-
L ID EÆ , Richard.']
Gen . Char. Calyx quinquedentatus. Corolla hypocrateriformis, tubo cylindrico, fauce pervia. Stigma capitatum.
Capsula unilocularis, decemdentata. -
Gen. Char. Calyx five-toothed. Corolla hypocrateriform, the tube cylindrical, its orifice naked. Stigma capitate.
Capsule one-celled, opening with ten teeth.
Radix perennis, crassiuscula, fibrosa.
Folia omnia radicalia, obovato-lanceolata, obtusa, minute
denticulata, crassiuscula, obscure viridia,
. venosa, per totam superficiem, sed subtus præ-
cipue, fiavo-farinosa.
Scapi quatuor- ad sex-pollicares, erecti, crassiusculi,
teretes, glabri, insigniter farinosi.
Flores umbellati, erecti.
Pedunculi breves, farinosi, basi bractea parva sub-
ovata suffulti.
Calyx,pro ratione fions magnus, ovatus, inflatus, sub-
pentagonus, quinquedentatus, farinosus, dentibus
obtusis, erectis.
Corolla hypocrateriformis, tubo calycis longior, cylin-
dracea, farinosa, versus apicem incrassata, fauce
lutea, glandulis quinque emarginatis, luteis, co-
ronata ; limbo nudo, quinquelobo, segmentis late
obcordatis approximatis, patentissimis, purpureo-
violaceis, ad apicem bifidis.
Stamina quinque, intra faucem corollæ.
F l LAMENTA perbrevia.
Antheræ oblongæ, flavæ.
Pistillum : Germen rotundatum, subquinquelobum ;
Stylus filiformis, striatus.
Stigma quinquelobatum, lobis parvis, obtusis.
Root perennial, somewhat thick, fibrous.
Leaves all proceeding from the root, between obovate
and lanceolate, obtuse, minutely toothed, thickish,
of a dull green, veined, sprinkled all over, especially
beneath, with a yellow mealiness.
Scapes from four to six inches high, erect, stout, rounded,
glabrous, remarkably farinose.
Flowers in an umbel, erect.
Peduncles short, mealy, supported at their base by a
small subovate bractea.
Calyx large in proportion to the flower, ovate, inflated,
somewhat five-sided, five-toothed, mealy, the
teeth obtuse, erect.
Corolla hypocrateriform, longer than the tube of the
calyx, cylindrical,, farinose, thickened towards the
top, the mouth, yellow, crowned with five emar-
ginate yellow glands; the limb destitute of mealiness,
five-lobed, the segments broadly obcordate
approximate, very patent, of a purplish, violet
colour, bifid at the extremity.
Stamens five, within the mouth of the corolla.
Filaments very short.
Anthers oblong, yellow.
Pistil : Germen roundish, somewhat five-lobed; Style
filiform, striated.
Stigma five-lobed, the lobes small, obtuse.
Fig. 1. Flower, scarcely expanded, of Primula scotica. Fig. 2. The same fully expanded. Fig. 3 . Corolla cut
open to show the five glands at the mouth of the tube, and the insertion of the stamens. Fig. 4. Stamen.
Fig. 5. Pistil. Fig. 6. Unexpanded flower of Primula farinosa. Fig. 7. The same expanded. Fig. 8. Corolla
cut open to show the scarcely glandular mouth of the tube, and the insertion of the staméns. Fie. 9.
Pistil.—all more or less magnified.
I have here the satisfaction of presenting to the lover of British botany an entirely new and most elegant species
of Ip'imula, which, though it has been for some years known in gardens by the name which is above^iven to it,
yet was not supposed to possess any essential characters distinct from P . farinosa, until it was lately examined at
the Botanic Garden of Edinburgh, This point was satisfactorily ascertained by my friends Dr. Graham, the
Professor of Botany at that University, Mr. Greville, and myself.
Although doubtlessly very closely allied to Primula farinosa, yet there is something in the very habit of the
present plant, independently of its colour, which enables the horticulturist to distinguish it at once, and even by
the foliage merely. The leaves of Primula scotica are more farinose, and edged with much closer and smaller
teeth. The scape is shorter-and thicker, as are also the pedicels; and these, as well as the large, broadly ovate and
inflated calyces, and the tube of the corolla, are far more mealy. The colours of the two plants also afford excellent
marks of distinction. In P . scotica the tube is scarcely incrassated upwards; the limb is cut into shortly and
broadly obcordate, closely set, dark violet-purple segments; the mouth of the tube is furnished with five distinct
emarginate glands, which are extremely apparent even to the naked eye. In P . farinosa, on the contrary, the
tube is evidently swollen immediately below the limb; the limb itself has five segments obcordate at the extremity,
but much attenuated at the base, which stand apart from each other, and are of a purplish rose-colour; the mouth
has indeed, though not hitherto noticed by any author, glandular processes, but they are by no means formed into
five distinct portions. The situation of the stamens in the two flowers is also different; in P . farinosa they are
placed at the very mouth of the tube, so that the tips of the anthers are a little exserted; in P . scotica they are
quite included within the tube, so as to be only visible by looking directly down into it. The pistil, in which I had
the least expected it, affords a mark o f distinction; for whereas the germen is broadly obovate and the stigma truly
capitate in the Bird's-eye Primrose, in the subject of the present plate the germen is round and the stigma is
five-lobed.
To these differences, which I have found to be quite constant in a great number of living specimens which I
have examined, it may also be added that the flowers appeal- a month later, being in perfection, even in gardens
in the month of July, when those of the other species are entirely gone. The flowers bear also a much greater resemblance
to those o f P . Auricula than o f P . farinosa.
The only botanist who has been so fortunate as to discover this beautiful plant is Mr. Gibb of Inverness, who
also first detected the Ajuga pyramidalis. The habitats which he has been so kind as to give me for it are Hoi born
Head, near Thurso in Caithness, where it is very abundant, and also that part of the country which is crossed in
going from Thurso to Dunbeath.
With the view to establish this species more certainly by contrasting it with Primula farinosa, and also to make
their points of difference more clearly understood, I have given figures of the flowers of both upon the same plate;
and as the specific character of the latter will now need correction, I would propose the following:
P . farinosa; foliis obovato-lanceolatis farinosis crenulatis, calyce oblongo-ovato, corollas limbo piano, fauce
^ vix glandulosa, segmentis obcordatis basi attenuatis distantibus.
1 Curtis’s figure of this species in the Old Series of FI. Bond, is excellent: in that however in Svensk Botanik
(f. 442.) the colour of the corolla and the shape of the segments are the same as in our P . scotica; but as there
arc no .dissections-of the flowers, I am not prepared to say to which species it may belong.