178 Oh the Species of the Genus Primula in Essex.
in Britain ? Plants with such a general distribution are
mostly found all over England and Scotland. I suspect
its occurrence in Iceland is doubtful. I do not think you
have got to the bottom of the matter yet by any means."
Further information will be found in Nyman's 'Conspectus
Florae Europaea' (iii., p. 603, 1881), and in Lecoq's 'Geo-
graphie Botanique de l'Europe' (viii., pp. 141-143, 1858).
The latter work gives a table of its distribution. The plant
ascends in Auvergne to 1200 metres, in the Caucasus to
between 2000 and 3000 metres, and I have seen it at Sils
Maria and Stalden, in the Engadine, up to nearly 7000 feet,
or, as Lecoq says, "au dela de la limite des sapins." Lecoq
seems to have considered it capricious in its distribution, for
he says—" Elle habite la France, quoiquelle manque au
plusieurs points et notamment a Rocroy et a Vervins."
VI.—Primula elatior and its Variations in Essex.
The confusion as to the nomenclature of the various species
of Primula which exists in the works of some botanists appears
also to obtain in the minds of the inhabitants of that part of
Essex in which the above-mentioned species grows. Thus, I
have more than once heard the name "Paigle" applied to P.
elatior by persons who would also have applied the same word
to the Cowslip (P. veris), as is always done in other parts of
Essex, while within a mile or two other persons have assured
me that the name "Paigle" was, properly speaking, applied
only to the Cowslip (P. veris)—the name "Cowslip" being
always reserved for the true P. elatior; and Mr. Varenne,
of Kelvedon, has been kind enough to inform me that the
name "Cowslip" is, by some persons in that neighbourhood,
even applied to the Hybrid Oxlip, the name "Paigle" being
always used when P. veris (commonly called the Cowslip) is
intended. I have not heard the name "Oxlip" applied to
P. elatior, Jacq., by the country-people inhabiting the district
where it grows, but I have, I think, near Chelmsford heard it
used for the Hybrid Oxlip. Of the latter and the True Oxlip
Ed. Forster remarks (Phytol., i., p. 974)—"I suppose both
are called Oxlips in some counties; in Essex I know they