| 释义 |
primula Bot.|ˈprɪmjʊlə|
[a. med.L. prīmula, fem. of prīmul-us, dim. of prīm-us first; originally in the name prīmula vēris ‘little firstling of spring’, applied by 1101 app. to the Cowslip, but at an early date also to the Field Daisy, perh. as an earlier spring flower, or because both plants were from their supposed virtues known as herba paralysis. Matthioli in 1565 confined Primula veris to the Cowslip; Linnæus adopted Primula as a generic name, and made Primula veris a species, including three subspecies, P. veris officinalis the Cowslip, P. v. elatior the (true) Oxlip, P. v. acaulis the Primrose; but these are now generally considered as three species. See Note below.]
A genus of herbaceous, mostly hardy, perennial plants, of low growing habit, having radical leaves, and yellow, white, pink, or purple flowers mostly borne in umbels; chiefly natives of Europe and Asia, and cultivated in many varieties.
1753Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., The species of primula enumerated by Mr. Tournefort, are these [etc.]. 1834M. Somerville Connex. Phys. Sc. xxvii. (1849) 303 On the lofty range of the Himalaya the primula, the convallaria, and the veronica blossom. 1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 3/1 The Primula, Anagallis, [etc.],..are the gayest of the genera, some of whose species are found in almost all gardens. 1882Garden 18 Feb. 121/3 One of the finest varieties of the Chinese Primula yet produced..was shown.
[Note. Primula veris occurs c 1101 in Regimen Sanitatis Salerni, app. in a list of plants supposed to cure paralysis: ‘Salvia, Castoriumque, Lavendula, Primula veris, Nasturtium, Armoracia, hæc sanant paralytica membra’, in which Primula veris appears to mean the Cowslip, often called Herba Paralysis. But both names appear also to have been applied to other plants. Thus the Sinonoma Bartholomei a 1387 (Anecd. Oxon. 1882) has, p. 23, ‘Herba paralisis, i. couslop, alia est a primula veris’; also, ‘Herba Sancti Petri, primula veris idem’; and, p. 35, ‘Primula veris, herba Sti. Petri idem, solsequium idem, alia est ab herba paralisi’. Alphita a 1450 (Anecd. Oxon. 1887) identifies Primula veris with the common Field Daisy: thus (p. 146) ‘Primula ueris, prima rosa idem, gall. et angl. primerole. Respice in consolida minor. (p. 45) Consolida minor, primula ueris idem, ossa fracta consolidat, gallice, le petite consoude, angl. dayseghe [MS. waysegle] uel bonwort uel brosewort. Respice in uenti minor. (p. 190) Venti minor, consolida minor idem, an. Bonwrt, a. dayesegh.’ The difference of opinion is also hinted by Simon Januensis, Clavis Sanationis (a 1400, ed. Venice 1486) ‘Passerella, primula veris, herba paralisis idem, ut volunt quidam’. Primula veris was identified with the daisy in the Ortus Sanitatis (Augsb. 1486), and by the 16th c. botanists Brunsfels, Lonicerus, Tragus, and Fuchs, several of whom figure the plant. Parkinson Theat. Bot. 531 gives the name to both the daisy and the primrose. Hieronymus of Brunschwygk, 1531, says that there were three plants called Herba paralysis, of which H. paralysis minor was the Daisy, and H. paralysis major was Primula veris. Matthioli 1565 has ‘Eas vulgaris notitiæ plantas, quæ quibusdam Bractea cuculi [cf. F. coucou cowslip], officinis Primula veris, Germanis Claves Sancti Petri, nonnullis herba paralysis appellantur’, and figures the Cowslip as Primula veris. The names Claves Sti. Petri, Herba Sti. Petri, St. Peter's wort, and Ger. Schlüsselblume, are due to the resemblance of a cowslip head to a bunch of keys.]
Hence primuˈlaceous a., belonging to the family Primulaceæ, of which Primula is the typical genus; ˈprimulin Chem. [-in1] (see quots.).
1841Penny Cycl. XIX. 3/1 The *Primulaceous order consists of herbaceous plants inhabiting the temperate parts of the world, in moist situations. 1851Glenny Handbk. Fl. Gard. 46 Pretty little plants of the primulaceous order.
1837R. D. Thomson in Brit. Ann. 352 *Primulin.—When the roots of the primula veris or cowslip are digested in water or spirit a bitter tincture is obtained—the spirituous solution deposits after a considerable time by spontaneous evaporation many small prismatic crystals—these are primulin mixed with some vegetable matter. 1897Naturalist 45 An acrid principle called primulin. |