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Primula
Also called Cowslip, Shootingstar, Primroses
Primula is a large genus of low, spring-flowering perennials (with some annuals and biennials) grown for their colourful blooms; common garden types include the primrose, cowslip, auricula and polyanthus. Most like cool, moist conditions with good drainage and some shade.
Primula () is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. They include the primrose (P. vulgaris), a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common species are P. auricula (auricula), P. veris (cowslip), and P. elatior (oxlip). These species and many others are valued for their ornamental flowers. They have been extensively cultivated and hybridised (in the case of the primrose, for many hundreds of years). Primula are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical mountains in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and New Guinea, and in temperate southern South America. Almost half of the known species are from the Himalayas.
Primula has over 500 species in traditional treatments, and more if certain related genera are included within its circumscription.
Primula species have been extensively cultivated and hybridised, mainly derived from P. elatior, P. juliae, P. veris and P. vulgaris. Polyanthus (Primula × polyantha) is one such group of plants, which has produced a large variety of strains in all colours, usually grown as annuals or biennials and available as seeds or young plants.
Another huge range of cultivars, known as auriculas, are derived from crosses between P. auricula and P. hirsuta (among others). Specialist nurseries and auricula societies support the growing and showing of these choice strains.
Although there are over 400 species of Primula, about 75% are found in the eastern Himalayan mountain chain and western China (Yunnan), constituting a centre of diversity. Other centres of diversity are a western Asian centre (Caucasus, European mountain ranges from the Pyrenees, through the Alps to the Carpathian Mountains), mountains of East Asia and those of western North America. Primula is found in mountainous or higher latitude zones of North America, Europe, and Asia, with extension into South America, Africa (mountains of Ethiopia) and tropical Asia (islands of Java and Sumatra). About 25 species occur in North America (represented in five sections).
Moonlight Primrose · Auricula · Bulley's Primrose · Buttonhead Primrose · Primula chionantha · Primula cockburniana · Drumstick Primrose · Oxlip · Tibetan Cowslip · Primula frondosa · Japanese primrose · Primula kisoana
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Primula by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
