Secretary of The Chicago Academy of Sciences.
What can the blessed spring restore
More gladdening than your charms?
Bringing the memory once more
Of lovely fields and farms!
Of thickets, breezes, birds, and flowers
Of life's unfolding prime;
Of thoughts as cloudless as the hours;
Of souls without a crime.
--_Mary Howitt._
Among the many beautiful blossoms to be found in the field, the forest,
or the garden probably none have served to inspire the poet more than
the primrose and its near relative, the English cowslip. Someone has
said that "no flowers typify the beautiful more strongly than those of
the primrose which, though showy, are delicate and seem inclined to
retire to the shade of the plant's leaves."
These plants belong to the Primrose family (_Primulaceæ_) which
includes twenty-eight genera and over three-hundred and fifty species.
Nearly all are natives of the Northern hemisphere, some being found
as far north as Greenland (the Greenland primrose). Some of the
species are Alpine, and a few are found in the southern portions of
South America and Africa. One of the most interesting wild species
of this family is the shooting star or American cowslip, which grows
abundantly on the prairies of the Eastern portion of the United States.
Dr. Erasmus Darwin tells us that "the uncommon beauty of this flower
occasioned Linnæus to give it the name _Dodecatheon_, signifiying the
twelve heathen gods."
The family as a whole seems to have no economic value of importance
and are of use to man simply to beautify his surroundings. Many of
the species are very interesting to the scientific observer, for the
structure of their flowers is such that they are peculiarly adapted
for cross-fertilization. This character has made it possible for the
floriculturist to produce many of the beautiful forms that are found
in cultivation. The generic name of the primrose is _Primula_ from the
diminutive of the Latin word _Primus_, meaning first. The blossoming
of the plants in the early spring led Linnæus to give them this name.
It is said that their name was also applied, during the middle ages, to
the European daisy (_Bellis perennis_.)
This genus, _Primula_, is the type of the family and contains about one
hundred and fifty species from which have been produced, both in nature
and under cultivation, many hybrid forms, one investigator claiming to
have found more than twenty in the Alps alone. The species are found
distributed throughout the cooler regions of Europe and Asia and a few
are natives of North America.
The common or English primrose (_Primula vulgaris_), by careful
culture, produces a wonderful number of variations. The wild forms
produce only yellow single flowers while from those under cultivation
are developed numerous varieties, both single and double, which vary
greatly in color--red, pink, white, purple, and many shades of each.
The cowslip primrose (_Primula veris_) is also a native of England. The
flowers are yellow and nodding, and the plants emit a strong odor of
anise.
The Himalaya Mountains are probably more rich in beautiful and
interesting species and varieties than any other locality. Here
is found the most beautiful of all the primroses, the delicate
rose-colored form (_Primula rosea._)
This species of primrose should not be confounded with the evening
primrose, of which there are about twenty species, all American. The
yellow flowers of the latter appear in the summer, opening at night,
the thin and delicate petals withering the next day.
[Illustration: PRIMROSE.
6/7 Life-size.
CHICAGO:
A. W. MUMFORD, PUBLISHER.
COPYRIGHT 1900, BY
NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.]