The 16th century was the time of plant hunters and botanical expeditions. One of the most important botanical writers was Charles de l’Ecluse or Clusius. He was made Imperial Court Botanist in Vienna by the Emperor Maximilien II. While in Vienna, he visited his friend Professor Johannes Aichholtz , the proud owner of two apparently different types of auricula - one yellow (which he called Auricula Ursi I) and a pink one (Auricula Ursi II) which turned out to be the P. hirsuta hybrid. He mentioned that the local herb women gathered roots and flowers to sell in the Viennese market, many apparently bought by Viennese ladies to plant in their gardens. In his book Rariorum aliquot stirpium per Pannoniam, Austriam et Vicinas (1592) he mentions seven different forms of auricula.

Enthusiasm for floriculture spread rapidly across Europe and people were looking out for new and attractive plants. From the beginning of the 17th century, there is a marked preference for the different colour hybrids over the wild yellow form. This is the time of the ‘curieux’ (also called ‘florists’) who collected and strived to improve different plants. Because of its fascinating ability to produce a wide variety of forms and colours, the auricula became one of the treasured florist flowers (along with roses, tulips, etc.) Commercial nurseries started to develop and auriculas appeared in nursery catalogues. In 1610, Conrad Sweert, a Dutch florist, who was trading in Germany and Holland, offered 6 varieties for sale. A huge number of florilegium or ‘flower anthologies’ were produced. One of which was the Hortus Eystettensis , prepared in 1613 for Johann Conrad, Prince Bishop of Eichstatt by the apothecary Basilus Besler featuring three auriculas.

Around this time auriculas began to be displayed in ‘theatres’ painted black, often with curtains and mirrors. It is difficult to say where this tradition began, but Charles Géunin in his book of 1732 mentions the town of Tournai in Wallonia where the Abbot of Saint Michel had 15 auricula theatres on display!

Towards the end of the 18th century, there was an auriculamania in the low-lands that almost reached the proportions of tulipomania. Doubles especially were prized and sold for a high price. In 1799 in Meissen, Franz August Kanngiesser published an Aurifkelflora containing coloured illustrations of 144 cultivars.

In Germany and Wallonia, auricula associations began to appear and a specialist magazine even mentioned thefts of prize winning auriculas. By the end of the 18th century the city of Leiden in Holland was commercializing over 1000 different cultivars. From 1850 onwards they fell out of fashion. However on the other side of the channel it was a different story.

The appearance of the auricula in England is often attributed to their arrival with Flemish weavers from 1570 and the Huguenots from 1620 to 1685, fleeing religious persecution. The first florist societies were created in 1630 and played a major role in popularizing auriculas in the 17th and 18th century. They became associated with northern miners who organized feasts in public houses - the prize for best in show often being a copper kettle. In the South, the upper-classes held numerous collections in their stately homes and specialized nurseries were selling cultivars at high prices. Somewhat neglected during the industrial revolution, and with the arrival of exotic plants for the heated glass house, they regained popularity around 1870. Many cultivars disappeared during the two world wars but horticultural societies such as the National Auricula and Primula Society founded in 1873 and some amateur growers kept the flame alive and they are still a popular flower. Take a look at this year’s display at Chelsea!