principally be attributed to the remarks of the

poets, as

Bring the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies.

Lycidas.

Sweet as the Primrose peeps beneath the thorn.

She is the rose, the glory of the day,

And mine the Primrose in the lowly shade:
Mine, oh! not mine; amisse I mine did say:

Not mine, but his, which mine awhile her made;
Mine to be his, with him to be for aye.

O that so fair a flowre so soon should fade,
And through untimely tempest fall away!
She fell away in her first age's spring,

Whilst yet her leafe was greene, and fresh her rinde,
And whilst her branch fair blossomes foorth did bring,
For age to dye is right, but youth is wrong;

She fell away like fruit blown with winde,

Weep, Shepheard! weep, to make my undersong.

SPENSER.

Shakspeare makes it a funeral flower for youth

With fairest flowers,

Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele,
I'll sweeten thy sad grave: Thou shalt not lack
The flower that's like thy face, pale Primrose.

Cymbeline.

Although every lover of Nature hails with pleasure the first appearance of the pale Primrose, seated on the hazel bank, surrounded by its puckered leaves, yet it fails to give those joyous sensations which arise at the first sight of the meadow

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gay with gaudy Cowslips drest.” The latter flower as forcibly brings to mind the frolics of our

childhood, as the former reminds us of past friends and rural walks; for the soft tints of the Primrose, like the mild beams of the moon, seem to invite us on to moral reflections and quiet contemplation.

The Primrose is a native of most parts of Europe, always seeking the partial shade of hedgerows, the banks of sheltered lanes, and the borders of woods or coppices, and is but seldom found spangling the open meadow like its relative the Cowslip. From this we should learn to place it on the banks of our wilderness walks, and to scatter it thickly beneath the trees of the shrubbery. It will grow in almost any soil, but thrives most on a clayey bank. When transplanted in the Spring, it receives a check to its flowering, which often causes it to blossom freely in the autumn.

The variety of the common Primrose, with double flowers of a lilac colour, forms a most agreeable contrast with the pale Primrose of the woods.

The common Sulphur-coloured Primrose frequently changes its colour into a pale dingy red by cultivation; and we have sometimes met with it growing naturally of this colour, occasioned by some accidental circumstance analogous to cultivation, as either by the seed falling on strong manure, or rich earth being scattered over the plant.

The medicinal properties of the Primrose being the same as that of the Cowslip, but of a weaker quality, we shall notice them under the head of the latter plant, and proceed to that beautiful and varied kind of Primrose so much esteemed in the gardens of florists under the name of

POLYANTHOS.

Polyanthos of unnumber'd dyes.

THOMSON.

THIS beautiful variety of Primula derives its name from the Greek words oλùs, many or much, and aveos, a flower, as the Polyanthos, like the Auricula, produces an umbel of many flowers on one common scape or stem, and on this account we consider it to be rather a variety of the Primula elatior, Oxlip, than that of the common Primrose, although Linnæus asserts that the peduncles in the common Primrose spring from a scape, which being so short is concealed among the leaves. Amongst a number of wild Primroses that were planted in Dr. Buxton's garden, at Maize Hill, near Greenwich, some of them produced flowers with a scape, and were thus transformed into Polyanthoses, retaining the colour of the Field Primrose.

The author has been a frequent planter of this

flower, but never observed this change, although the change of colour from the common sulphur to a red tint was frequent. It is probable that the Polyanthos may have sprung from both the Primrose and the Oxlip. Experience proves it to be a permanent variety; for however nature sports with its tints, we have not known it return to either the common Primrose or the Oxlip.

The Polyanthos, which has been so much improved by cultivation during the last century, may justly dispute the prize of beauty with any European flower, when we take into account the variety and richness of its colouring, the grace and elegance of its form, its mild and agreeable odour that has never been known to offend: its easy propagation, hardy nature, and early time of flowering, make it a welcome inmate in every flower-garden, and in no part of the world is it so successfully cultivated as in England, particularly by the zealous florists of Lancashire and Cheshire, who have, in the instance of this flower, left the Dutch bloemist considerably in the background: The neighbourhood of Manchester and Macclesfield is justly celebrated for producing the finest specimens of this flower, and in these manufacturing districts the criterion of a fine Polyanthos is ascertained with as narrow a scrutiny as the sportsman regards his pointer or setter dog.

The stem of a perfect flower must be strong, erect, and elastic, and of sufficient height to support the umbel or bunch of flowers above the puckered foliage of the plant. The footstalks of each separate flower should also be strong and elastic, and of a length proportioned to the size and quantity of the pipes; which should not be less than seven in number, that the bunch may be round, close, and compact. Maddox says, "the tube of the corolla above the calyx should be short, well filled with the anthers or summits of the stamens, and terminate fluted, rather above the eye. The eye should be round, of a bright clear yellow, and distinct from the ground colour; the proportions of a fine flower are, that the diameter of the tube be one part, the eye three, and the whole pip six, or nearly so. The ground colour is most admired when shaded with a light and dark rich crimson, resembling velvet, with one mark or stripe in the centre of each division of the limb, bold and distinct, from the edging down to the eye, where it should terminate in a fine point. The pips should be large, quite flat, and as round as may be consistent with their peculiar beautiful figure, which is circular, excepting those small indentures between each division of the limb, which divide it into five heart-like segments. The edging should resemble a bright gold hue, bold, clear, and distinct, and so