be found or made, they appear to answer even better than
frames, as alpine species cannot endure a stagnant atmosphere, which is
the too common lot of frame subjects. It is not very particular as to
soil or situation. I grow it both in shade and fully exposed to the
mid-day sun of summer, and, though a healthy specimen is grown in loam, I
find others to do better in leaf mould mixed with grit and pebbles. It
enjoys a rare immunity--the slugs let it alone, or at least my slugs do,
for it is said that different tribes or colonies have different tastes.
To propagate it, the little offsets about the footstalk should be cut
off with a sharp knife when the parent plant has finished flowering;
they will mostly be found to have nice long roots. Plant in leaf soil
and grit, and keep them shaded for a month.

Flowering period, March to May.

Primula Purpurea.

PURPLE-FLOWERED PRIMULA; _Nat. Ord._ PRIMULACEAE.

A truly grand primrose of the same section as _P. denticulata_, coming
also from an alpine habitat, viz., the higher elevations of the
Himalayas. It has not long been in cultivation in this country compared
with our knowledge of the Himalayan flora. It is perfectly hardy, but
seems to require rather drier situations than most of the large-leaved
kinds. I never saw it so fine as when grown on a hillock of rockwork in
sand and leaf mould; the specimen had there stood two severe winters,
and in the spring of 1881 we were gladdened by its pushing in all
directions fifteen scapes, all well topped by its nearly globular heads
of fine purple flowers. It begins to flower in March, and keeps on for
quite a month.

The flower stems are 9in. high, stout, and covered with a mealy dust,
thickest near the top and amongst the small bracts. The umbels of
blossom are 2in. to 3in. across, each flower nearly 3/4in. in diameter,
the corolla being salver shaped and having its lobed segments pretty
well apart; the tube is long and somewhat bellied where touched by the
teeth of the calyx; the latter is more than half the length of tube, of
a pale green colour, and the teeth, which are long, awl shaped, and
clasping, impart to the tubes of the younger flowers a fluted
appearance; later on they become relaxed and leafy. The leaves have a
strong, broad, pale green, shining mid-rib, are lance-shaped, nearly
smooth, wavy, and serrulated; the upper surface is of a lively green
colour, and the under side has a similar mealy covering to that