A perennial usually grown as an annual or biennial, 20–40 cm tall and about 30 cm across. Hairy pale green leaves 4–8 cm, ovate and stalked, shallowly lobed and toothed, in a basal rosette. Upright scapes carry flowers in several whorled tiers like a little pagoda; small flowers usually purple, also red, white and bright pink, with yellow centres, lightly scented. The commonest winter and spring pot primula. Holder of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.
Habitat
Waste ground, field edges and damp grassland at 1,800–3,000 m in its homeland; widely grown as a winter and spring pot and bedding plant.
Distribution
Native to Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan in China and to the Himalayas, Assam and Myanmar; in winter-spring beds and pots across China, common wild around Kunming, a winter-spring pot plant in Japan (otome-zakura). Scarce in Singapore.
Season and behaviour
February to May, February to April in the wild in Yunnan; December to April in pots.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
The tiered whorls want a portrait frame, with a macro on one tier's yellow eyes. Pink-purple is truest in soft light; a long lens for massed beds. Wild primroses along field edges near Kunming in spring are the best wild scene for this species, wide and low. Potted plants as still life in window light.
Photographic styles
Tiered pagoda inflorescences; pink-purple fields at the field edge.
Similar species
Poison primrose, Primula obconica (larger leaves and flowers, leaves allergenic); polyanthus primroses; common primrose, Primula vulgaris (solitary, mostly yellow).
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. No photographs yet: only photos cleared for commercial use with credit will be added.
Why it is listed: this species comes from the Flower checklist (GBIF backbone and Wikidata verified). Names follow the GBIF backbone and Wikidata; the facts follow the sources below; photo recognition is not offered.
