Primroses

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The generic name is a diminutive of the Latin prima (’first’), referring to the early flowering of several species. Many of these plants are indeed very hardy, as seen in two of the pictures above.

The name primrose is from the Latin prima rosa, meaning ‘the first rose’, although primroses are not at all related to roses.

According to some authorities, the name cowslip is a corruption of an Old English word, cuslyppe, meaning ‘cow dung’. This probably refers to the favoured habitat of the common cowslip (P. veris), namely dry slopes, grazed by cattle. Others claim that the word is a corruption of cow’s leek, derived from the Anglo-Saxon word leac, meaning ‘plant’.

It has been said that the name oxlip, which is a corruption of ox and slip, refers to the fact that oxlip, like cowslip, often grows on cattle grazing grounds. This may be a wrong presumption, as true oxlip (P. elatior) – at least in the northern part of its distribution area – mainly grows in forests.

 

 

P. denticulata (below) is quite similar, but much larger, and it lacks the dark-tipped calyx-lobes.

 

 

 

 

 

Furthermore, the white-flowered form is found in drier areas along the Tibetan border, from western to eastern Nepal, and also in Tibet, at elevations between 3,300 and 5,000 m, whereas the blue-flowered form is restricted to central Nepal, fully exposed to the monsoon rains, and mainly growing on rock-ledges at altitudes between 2,900 and 4,600 m.

I am convinced that the latter is a distinct species, but as it has not yet been described as such, I tentatively retain its status as a variety of P. buryana.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours San Diego-based lawyer, politician, and botanist Daniel Cleveland (1838-1929), who was the first to carry out a systematic study of the plants of the San Diego area. He found many species new to science.

Padre’s shooting star belongs to a group of primroses, which were formerly placed in the genus Dodecatheon, erected by Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), supposedly because the inflorescence of these plants often consists of 12 flowers. The name stems from Ancient Greek dodeka (’twelve’) and theos (’god’), thus ‘twelve gods’. The Ancients applied this name to plants that they thought had acquired their medicinal properties from the twelve most prominent gods and goddesses.

This group, comprising 17 species, is widespread in North America, from north-western Mexico northwards through western United States and Canada to Alaska, with a single species extending into north-eastern Siberia. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which cling to the petals by beating their wings very fast, thus releasing the pollen.

The popular name shooting star refers to the flowers, in which the yellow stamens and the petals, which are bent backwards, converge to a common point, likened to a shooting star, in which the petals constitute the ‘tail’.

Other members of the group include Jeffrey’s shooting star (P. jeffreyi) and Henderson’s shooting star (P. hendersonii), both presented below.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leaves form a rosette, and the inflorescence is a globular, many-flowered umbel. As a rule, the inflorescences of this very variable species become larger and denser with higher altitude.

P. glomerata (below) also has globular umbels, but they are much more compact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

True oxlip is distributed in the major part of Europe, northwards to Denmark and southern Sweden, and in northern Asia, eastwards to the Altai Mountains, southwards to the Caucasus, Turkey, and northern Iran. It grows in forests and damp grasslands, and along streams.

The specific name is Latin, meaning ‘taller’ (than the common P. veris).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It mainly grows on wet banks in forests at altitudes between 2,700 and 4,600 m, from central Nepal eastwards to south-western China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed from western Nepal eastwards to south-eastern Tibet, at altitudes between 3,000 and 5,700 m. It is one of the few primroses blooming in autumn.

 

 

 

 

 

It grows in alpine grasslands and areas of snowmelt on acidic soils, at elevations between 2,000 and 3,200 m. It is distributed in the central and eastern Alps, and in the northern part of the Balkan Peninsula.

It forms a confusing variety of hybrids with P. minima (below).

The specific name is from the Latin gluten (‘glue’), alluding to the sticky glands on the leaves.

 

 

 

 

 

It occurs from central Nepal eastwards to Bhutan and south-eastern Tibet, growing at elevations between 2,700 and 4,100 m.

 

 

 

 

 

Shooting stars in general are discussed above, see P. clevelandii.

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed from Austria westwards to the French Alps and the Pyrenees, growing on acid soils, mainly along streams and in snow-melt areas, at elevations between 1,100 and 3,100 m.

 

 

 

 

 

It occurs from western Nepal eastwards to Sikkim, growing at altitudes between 2,500 and 3,700 m.

 

 

 

 

 

The Nlaka’pamux people used the flowers as amulets and love charms.

It was named in honour of Scottish botanist John Jeffrey (1826-1854), who spent four years exploring and collecting plants in Washington, Oregon, and California, sending his specimens back to Scotland. In 1854, he disappeared while travelling from San Diego across the Colorado Desert, and was never seen again.

An alternative name of this plant is Sierra shooting star, alluding to the Sierra Mountains of California.

Shooting stars in general are discussed above, see P. clevelandii.

 

 

 

 

 

Collectively, these plants are known as bear’s ear, alluding to the shape of the leaves. They are the source of a huge number of primrose cultivars.

Yellow mountain cowslip is easily identified by the bright yellow flowers and the dull-green, broadly obovate, thin leaves, strongly serrated along the margin, and covered in glandular hairs. The leaf blade of P. auricula is usually narrower, almost lanceolate.

 

 

 

 

 

This species is distributed from Kyrgyzstan and Xinjiang southwards across Tibet to northern Pakistan, and thence eastwards to Bhutan, growing at elevations between 3,300 and 5,600 m. It is very common in the Khumbu area, eastern Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

The specific name honours Italian physician and naturalist Pietro Andrea Gregorio Mattioli (1501-1577), personal physician of Emperor Maximilian II (1527-1576). He described more than a hundred new plants, and in his work Discorsi, he made famous comments on De Materia Medica, written by Greek physician, pharmacologist, and botanist Pedanius Dioscorides (died 90 A.D.). In 1561, he published a work on medicinal plants, Epistolarum Medicinalium Libri Quinque.

The obsolete generic name Cortusa was applied by Mattioli in honour of Giacomo Antonio Cortusi (1513-1603), who presented the plant to him, found north of Vicenza. From 1590, he was the director of the botanical garden in Padova,

 

 

 

 

 

It is quite common in the eastern half of the Alps, and also in the Tatras, the Carpathians, and the northern Balkans, eastwards to Ukraine, growing in scree and snowmelts, usually on acid soils, at altitudes between 1,200 and 3,000 m.

 

 

 

 

 

The leaves, which form a rosette, are to 20 cm long and 5 cm wide, wrinkled and sharply toothed. The inflorescence stem is to 45 cm tall, with 2-4 superimposed umbels, each with 6-10 purple flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed from Himachal Pradesh eastwards to central Nepal, growing at elevations between 2,100 and 4,100 m.

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is distributed from central Nepal eastwards to Arunachal Pradesh and south-eastern Tibet, growing at altitudes between 3,000 and 4,400 m. It is quite prominent between Tharepati and Phedi, Langtang National Park, central Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

It occurs from Uttarakhand eastwards to Sikkim, growing at altitudes between 2,100 and 3,800 m.

 

 

 

 

 

This species grows in open areas at altitudes between 3,600 and 5,000 m, from Uttarakhand eastwards to Bhutan and south-eastern Tibet.

 

 

 

 

 

This plant is found at elevations between 3,500 and 5,000 m, from western Nepal eastwards to Sikkim and south-eastern Tibet.

 

 

 

 

 

It is fairly common in forests at elevations between 2,100 and 3,700 m, from Kashmir eastwards to western Nepal.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is partial to wet meadows, found at elevations between 2,900 and 4,800 m, from western Nepal eastwards to northern Myanmar and south-western China.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It grows in forests and meadows at altitudes between 3,500 and 4,300 m, from western Nepal eastwards to Bhutan and south-eastern Tibet. It is common in Ghunsa Valley, eastern Nepal.

This species hybridizes freely with the purple P. calderiana, sometimes resulting in yellow, white, blue, and purple flowers in a single mixed population.

 

 

 

 

 

Leaves all in a rosette, to 30 cm long and 4 cm wide. Inflorescence stem to 40 cm tall, umbel many-flowered, often one-sided, all parts covered in yellow farina, flowers drooping, to 3 cm across, golden-yellow with an orange-yellow eye.

The specific name honours John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792), who was a patron of botany.

 

 

 

 

 

It is distributed from Uttarakhand eastwards across southern Tibet and northern Himalaya to Bhutan, growing at elevations between 3,000 and 5,000 m.

 

 

 

 

 

In Norse mythology, the flower was dedicated to Freya, called the Key Virgin, a goddess associated with love, beauty, and fertility. When the heathens converted to Christianity, the plant was instead dedicated to Virgin Mary, hence the name Our Lady’s keys.

Common cowslip has been utilized medicinally for hundreds of years. This usage is described on the page Plants: Plants in folklore and poetry.

In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare (1564-1616), a mischievous puck, or spirit, Robin Goodfellow, meets a fairy, asking her what she is doing. She says:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Leaf-rosette compact, blade to 5 cm long and 2.5 cm broad, densely white-hairy. Inflorescence stalks to 20 cm long, with farina and glandular hairs, umbel with 2-6 nodding, bell-shaped flowers, dark purple, bright blue, or pale blue, to 2.5 cm long and across.

The specific name was given in honour of English physician, naturalist, and explorer Alexander Frederick Richmond ‘Sandy’ Wollaston (1875-1930), who participated in a number of expeditions, to the Ruwenzori Mountains of Uganda 1905, to New Guinea 1910-11 and 1912-13, and to Mt. Everest 1921. During this expedition, he found this species, which was named after him.

 

 

 

 

 

The inflorescences of these plants differ from those of Primula by having the flowers arranged in several umbels up the stem. (However, see Primula miyabeana above.) They occur from Turkey eastwards to the Himalaya, southwards through Arabia to Ethiopia and Somalia.

The generic name may be derived from Ancient Greek ev (‘splendid’) and trokhos (‘wheel’), in which case it probably refers to the beautiful ‘wheels’, formed by the inflorescences.

 

It grows on humid rocks, from Afghanistan eastwards to western Nepal, at elevations between 600 and 2,600 m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anemone obtusiloba and Geum elatum are described on the page Plants: Himalayan flora 3, whereas animism is dealt with in detail on the page Religion: Animism.