See also Primrose, Primula sp.; Auricula, P. auricula; Cowslip, Primula veris; and Oxlip, P. elatior.

☙ Polyanthus

Primula × polyantha Mill. (1768) WFO

 =Primula variabilis Goupil (1825); WFO LB

 =Primula elatior var. polyantha (? unmatched); JCN

 =Primula grandiflora-officinals Goupil (? unmatched). LB

Period English: polyanthus; polyanthos. EWW

Crimson-heart: crimson heart polyanthos. EWW

Lilac: lilac coloured polyanthos. EWW

Period French: Formal: primevère a grandes fleurs et officinale f. ('officinal large-flowered primrose'). LB

Sentiments:

🏶︎ Pride ▲︎ (1829); DLD

🏶︎ Pride of newly acquired fortune ▲︎ (1832); SJH

 Pride of riches ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1884); SJH HGA:LPF GAL JS* KG

 Pride of fortune ▲︎ (1836); TTA

🏶︎ Good temper ▲︎ (1834); O&B

🏶︎ Confidence ▲︎ (1840-1845); TM FSO LH S&K

Crimson-heart:

🏶︎ The heart's mystery ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1884); EWW GAL JS* KG

Lilac:

🏶︎ Confidence ▲︎◆︎ (1832-1884); EWW GAL JS* KG

 Impudent confidence ◆︎* (pre-1871). JS*

* Marked as British meaning.

Region:

Native: Continental Europe, excluding Spain, Portugal, and the Netherlands; north to Sweden; westernmost limits along Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia; southernmost limits North Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Italy, France.WFO

Introduced: Bolivia.WFO

Seasonality: Evergreen perennial flowering in spring, usually grown as a biennial.

Period Colours: TBC.

Calendar: TBC.

Heraldry: TBC.

Cultural and Religious: In his Floral Emblems, Phillips gives a selection of primroses and their saints, among them:

🏶︎ St Catherine de Ricci - 'The polyanthus'.

Cited Varieties:

  The only species given of polyanthus is this one, a naturally-occuring, but also cultivated, hybrid between the Cowslip, P. veris, and the Common Primrose, P. vulgaris.

  JC Niven, in his article 'The Primroses' printed in The Garden, 29 January 1876, pp.101-108, mentions a particular variety of 'P. elatior var. polyantha':

 Of this we have several double forms, as well as those varieties known by the popular title of 'Hose-in-hose,' the latter originating from a simple reduplication of the corolla, and we have also a form, though rarely met with, in which the corolla is absent altogether, and the various parts of the flower become metamorphosed into leaves. (102)

  I also note Wirt's establishment of two colour varieties, the 'crimson heart' and 'lilac coloured'. More information on these will be forthcoming, I hope, when I reach Wirt's work in this glossary.

Cited Verse:

❧ 'Bring the rathe Primrose that forsaken dies. / [...] / And every flower that sad embroidery wears;', 'Lycidas', ◆︎ John Milton, Justa Edouardo King Naufrago (1637) Read Here; EWW

  See also Primrose.

❧ 'And Polyanthus of unnumber'd Dyes;', 'Spring', ◆︎ (Scot.) James Thompson, The Seasons, London: A Millar in the Strand (1744) p.24, l.530, Read here; HNE

  This version of the quotation, given by our authors, comes from the 1744 version, 'With Additions and Corrections', cited above. The original version, published 1728, was phrased, 'and of nameleſ Dies / Anemonies,', given here at ll.492-493 from the 1735 version.

❧ 'The love-ſick cowſlip, that her head inclines / To hide a bleeding heart.', ◆︎ James Hurdis, The Village Curate: A Poem, London: J. Johnson, No 72, St Paul's Church-yard (1788) p.36 Read Here; EWW

  See also Cowslip. Given by Wirt under 'Crimson heart'.

❧ 'The polyanthus, and with pendent head / The crown imperial, ever bent on earth, / Favoring her secret rites and pearly sweets.', 'April', ◆︎ John Bidlake, The Year, A Poem, London: Richard Rees, 62, Pall-Mall, W. Curtis, Plymouth; and J. Parker, Oxford (1813) p.67; HNE

  Ellacombe attributes this verse to Forster, implicitly Thomas Ignatius M. Forster, who included it as 'The Spring Flowers, from Bidlake' in his The Perennial Calendar of 1824.

Other Verse:

❧ 'The past'ral Primrose now, that whilom smiled, / Unseen, unscented, thro' the lonely wild, / Swells in full-clustered pride, and boldly vies / With Polyanthus of unnumbered dies.', ◆︎ (Cym.) John Evans, The Bees: A Poem, in Four Books, Shrewsbury: J. and W. Eddowes (1806) Book II, ll.88-91;

  I have included this entry as it is the closest I can find to a quote appearing in DLD, SJH, and others and attributed to 'Matthew': 'See Polyanthus, in full clustered pride, / In splendid robes of rich unnumbered dyes [SJH has 'eyes'], / With scorn from old acquaintance turn aside.'

Sentiments

🜱 On sentiments: The sentiment of pride is first mentioned, to my reading, in Dix's Garland of Flora, and refers to the accompanying verse attributed to 'Matthew':

See Polyanthus, in full clustered pride,
In splendid robes of rich unnumbered dyes,
With scorn from old acquaintance turn aside.

I have been unnable to trace this back to another publication, with the closest I've come being ◆︎ (Cym.) John Evans' passage in The Bees (1806):

The past'ral Primrose now, that whilom smiled,
Unseen, unscented, thro' the lonely wild,
Swells in full-clustered pride, and boldly vies
With Polyanthus of unnumbered dies.
(ll.88-91)

This passage evidently does not fit exactly, and besides, the pride would there apply to the Primrose, rather than the polyanthus, which instead finds that beauty effortless.

I note with passing interest all these sentiments are the domain of the American authors, with none but late British compilers showing much interest in them.

Please see also Auricula, P. auricula, which shares sentiments of pride and the related avarice, though I cannot offer why at present. Hale goes as far as to cite P. auricula as her 'Polyanthus'.


La Flore de la Manche

◼︎ Léon Besnou, 1881

G. Primula L. — Primevère.


De Primus, premier, et Ver, veris, printemps; première fleur du printemps.


P. OFFICINALIS Jacq. — P. OFFICINALE (P. veris L. — Var. inflata Bot. Cap. odorata C. B. P. — Suaveolens Bartol.) (Brairelle, brayette, coucou, fleur de coucou, coqueluchons, herbe St-Paul, St-Pierre, à la paralysie, pâquette, printanière.) Angl. Common cowslip. All. Schlussel-blume. Ital. Prima vera. — Viv. — Mars-mai. Prés, pelouses. RRR. Cherbourg, le Roule, Tourlaville, la Pierre-Buttée, Octeville, St-Sauveur, St-Lo, bords de la Vire, St-Sénier-sous-Avranches, Apilly, Les Biards, environs du vieux château, Macey, pelouses du château, Beauficel, St-James, la Palluelle, Thorigny, près le château, Les Chambres, la Baudonière, Subligny, près le bourg et la maison Bourgeois.


P. GRANDIFLORA Lamk. — P. A GRANDES FLEURS. ( P. Acaulis Jacq. — Vulgaris Huds. — Brevistyla Dc. Ver. Var. L.) Pommerole, Prumerolle, Promenolle, Pruniole, Printemps, fièvre, Suzannes, Dénuite. Angl. Primrose. Bret. Bleun-Nevez. — Viv. — Mars-juin. Haies, bois, prés, coteaux. TC.

Var. P. acaulis caulescens. Lebel. Lestre. St-Senier-sous-Avranches. RR.

Varie depuis le blanc (St-Oven) au rose et pourpre (Baffé).


P. GRANDIFLORA-OFFICINALIS Goup. — P. A GRANDES FLEURS ET OFFICINALE. (P. Variabilis Goup et Lebel). — Viv. — Mars-juin. RRR. Lestre, St-Senier-sous-Avranches, Apilly, sentier du château, Macey, bois et pelouses du château, Valognes, environs.


P. ELATIOR Jacq. — P. ÉLEVÉE. (P. veris. — Var. elatior L.) Brayes de coucou, pain de coucou. Angl. Jagging oxlip. — Viv. — Mars-juin. Prés ombragés. RRRR. St-Senier-sous-Avranches, Apilly.

Plantes d'ornement; doublant facilement par la culture, et variant de couleur et de madrure; sans usage médicinal.

Les feuilles et les fleurs sont mucilagineuses et béchiques.


(250-251)




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Cite this page (MLA 9th): Never Never. “Polyanthus.” Glossa Hortensia, 18 Mar. 2025, neverxnever.neocities.org/glossahortensia/primula_polyantha. Accessed [DD Mon. YYYY].