Primula coelata – What’s Old is New Again

(Primula coelata grown by John Richards)

In Curtis’s Botanical Magazine 155:t. 9266 (1932) Otto Stapf described and illustrated Primula dubernardiana. In that same article he described Primula coelata and Primula coelata stenophylla. The name P. coelata* was later regarded by other authorities as an invalid (manuscript) name, but according to the International Code of Nomenclature this name is indeed valid as Stapf provided a full diagnosis and listed as representative collections made by Forrest, Rock and Kingdon-Ward. P. coelata stenophylla differed in leaf shape, hairiness, and farina from P. coelata. A careful analysis of the whole of Section Bullatae by Eveleigh, Nielsen and Rankin (Bot. Mag. t. 800, 2014) revealed that P. coelata is a distinct species (though P. coelata stenophylla is within the variation of P. henrici). Plants of P. coelata have been seen in the wild near Lugu Lake on the Yunnan/Sichuan border and have been grown in cultivation for several years. It is gratifying to be able to put a name on this species.
* The name is pronounced as "koi-lah-ta".