Primula luteoflora |
Recent New Primula Species (2018)
The New Year is a good time to reflect on what is new in Primula. There has only been one new species discovered this year:
Primula luteoflora X.F.Gao & W.B.Ju - A new Davidii species with yellow flowers similar to P. epilosa and P. wawushanica. From near Mupin in Baoxing county, Sichuan.
In Addition, a new variety was described: Primula bullata Franch. var. delavayi D.W.H. Rankin. This is a robust variation, up to 70cm tall with up to 60 flowers per scape.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes to All in 2019!
Pam Eveleigh © 2018
Two Primulas from Everest Epedition of 1921
In 1921, the British Mount Everest reconnaissance expedition set off to explore possible routes up Everest. Since Nepal was closed to foreigners at the time, the expedition approached through Sikkim, into Tibet's Chumbi valley, then west to Tingri Dzong (north of Everest), which they used as a base. From here members explored south for routes up Everest including the Rongbuk valley, and Nangpa La. The expedition naturalist, A. F. Wollaston (image above, standing, at left) collected flora and fauna specimens which included two new Primulas; Primula buryana named for one of the expedition members, C. K. Howard-Bury, and Primula wollastonii named for himself. The route he travelled was a loop to the west of Mount Everest, first to Nyenyam (Nyalam) and then through Lapche to the Rongshar valley.
Primula wollastonii |
"Crossing a pass to the East of Nyenyam, we camped on a level spot covered densely with white primulas (P. buryana) six to eight inches high; and inch or two of snow fell during the night, and so white are these flowers that it was difficult to see them against the snow. Near the top of another pass we found at about the same altitude, 15,000 feet, another primula (P. wollastonii) with three to six bells on each stem, the size of a small thimble, of a deep blue color, and lined inside with frosted silver."
Primula buryana |
Map of area Lapche-Trintang |
Primula buryana var. purpurea |
Pam Eveleigh © 2018
Primula sachalinensis
Primula sachalinensis: |
Primula sachalinensis at Magunant mud volcano |
A white form growing at Magunant mud volcano |
Primula sachalinensis has been considered a variation of Primula farinosa and certainly it is close, but the base of the bracts are gibbose. Regular Primula farinosa does not grow on Sakhalin and Bukhteeva³ noted that these plants growing on freshly ejected mud substrate differed from normal Primula farinosa to such an extent that the classification of Primula sachalinensis as a distinct species, endemic to Sakhalin, was justified. Kovtonyuk⁴ included Primula sachalinensis in a genetic study and confirmed it was distinct and more closely related to Primula mistassinica, Primula modesta and Primula incana.
¹ Original description on page 61 within the PDF of Bot. Mag. (Tokyo) 1932, xlvi.
² Original description Fl. Korea (Lee) 1159, without type. 1996.
³ Bukhteeva, A.V., Primula sachalinensis Nakai, the Primula species of the Maguntan volcano, Bot. Zh., 1960, vol. 45, no. 5, pp 746-748.
⁴ Kovtonyuk, N.K. and Goncharov, A.A., Phylogenetic relationships in the Genus Primula L. (Primulaceae) inferred from the ITS region sequences of nuclear rDNA, Russ. J. Genet., 2009, vol. 45, no. 6, pp. 663-670.
Pam Eveleigh © 2018
Studying Primula gracilipes
When in Nepal in the spring of 2018, I had a chance to study Primula gracilipes in detail. This species blooms early - I saw it in April. It belongs in section Petiolares and is closely related to several other species which have a similar loose cushion habit and dimorphic leaves (two different leaf shapes are produced depending on the time of year). One of the key features to see when identifying this group of species is the flower scape (or lack of). I used a technique where leaves were removed from one side of the plant to observe this and those leaves were then laid out for imaging. What follows are some of the images I took to document this species. Click on the images for larger sized versions.
An example plant is removed from the soil and measured. |
The plant is shown upside down to show the root structure and the absence of basal bud scales |
Now you can see the internal structure of the plant. |
You can clearly see that there is no scape, but that each pedicle comes from the base of the plant. You can see the bracts which are broad at the base and taper to a point. |
P. gracilipes produces two different leaf shapes. The form with the long petioles are produced late season so I searched the base of several plants to find last years old leaves. |
At a lower elevation I found plants which had bloomed earlier and were now producing this second leaf shape. |
An example of farina on new leaves (right) |
The flowers are shown from the side to see variation in the calyx. The flower on the right is a "thrum", and you can see the bulge in the flower tube where the anthers are located. |
Farina on the back of the flowers |
Folding a black velvet cloth, I make a place to hold the flowers upright to show the face. This allows me to show variation in color and shape. |
Using a sharp razor blade, I cut open a flower. This is a "pin" where the anthers are below the stigma. |
This is a "thrum" where the anthers are above the stigma. |
At lower elevations, plants were forming seed capsules. |
Variations in color. |
Pale color variation. |
Dark color variation. |
Habitat. |
Habitat. |
Habitat. |
P. aureata (left), P. gracilipes (right). |
P. gracilipes (top), P. deuteronana (bottom). |
Comparison of P. deuteronana (left), P. gracilipes (right). |
Pam Eveleigh © 2018
Recent New Primula Species (2017)
The New Year is a good time to reflect on what is new in Primula. There have only been a couple of new Chinese species discovered this year:
Primula zhui (by H. B. Ding) - from the original publication |
Primula centellifolia G.Hao & Y.Xu - Similar to Primula scopulicola, a species described last year, but with smaller stature, slender scape and a calyx with linear lanceolate and obtuse lobes. From Sichuan and Guizhou.
Primula zhui Y.H.Tan & B.Yang - A new member of Section Carolinella from SW Yunnan. It most closely resembles P. intanoensis, a species from Thailand, and was also compared with P. calyptrata in the original description.
Happy New Year and Best Wishes to All in 2018!
Pam Eveleigh © 2017