All Floras      Advanced Search
FOC Vol. 15 Page 99 Login | eFloras Home | Help
FOC | Family List | FOC Vol. 15 | Primulaceae

8. Primula Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 142. 1753.

报春花属 bao chun hua shu

Primula alpicola

Credit: Harvard University Herbaria

Herbs perennial, rarely annual, glabrous or pubescent, often farinose. Leaves simple, forming a rosette. Flowers usually heterostylous with pin (with longer styles) and thrum (with shorter styles) flowers; sometimes homostylous, in umbellate, racemose, subcapitate, or spicate inflorescences on scapes, with bracts; rarely solitary, scapes undeveloped. Calyx campanulate or cylindric, sometimes leaflike, 5-toothed. Corolla tube cylindric, not constricted at throat; limb 5-lobed, spreading or campanulate; lobes 2-cleft, margin entire. Stamens inserted on corolla tube; filaments very short; anthers obtuse. Ovary superior. Capsule globose, ovoid, or cylindric, dehiscing by valves, rarely with an operculum or crumbling; seeds numerous.

Approximately 500 species, mostly indigenous to the N temperate zone, with only a few outliers on the mountainous regions of Africa (Ethiopia), tropical Asia (Java and Sumatra), and South America. About 300 species are native to China.

Many species are imperfectly known, sometimes collected only once. This is reflected occasionally by missing details on pin or thrum morphology, fruiting characteristics, or ecology.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

The 300 species are represented by 24 sections according to C. M. Hu: 1. Sect. Monocarpicae Franchet ex Pax: spp. 1--13. 2. Sect. Obconicolisteri I. B. Balfour: spp. 14--23. 3. Sect. Cortusoides I. B. Balfour: spp. 24--40. 4. Sect. Malvacea I. B. Balfour: spp. 41--47. 5. Sect. Auganthus (Link) Pax ex I. B. Balfour: spp. 48--50. 6. Sect. Pycnoloba I. B. Balfour: sp. 51. 7. Sect. Ranunculoides Chen & C. M. Hu: spp. 52--53. 8. Sect. Primula: sp. 54. 9. Sect. Carolinella (Hemsley) Pax: spp. 55--62. 10. Sect. Bullatae Pax: spp. 63--66. 11. Sect. Petiolares Pax: spp. 67--115. 12. Sect. Proliferae Pax: spp. 116--134. 13. Sect. Amethystina I. B. Balfour: spp. 135--142. 14. Sect. Sikkimensis I. B. Balfour: spp. 143--150. 15. Sect. Crystallophlomis Rupr.: spp. 151--191. 16. Sect. Cordifoliae Pax: spp. 192--196. 17. Sect. Aleuritia Duby: spp. 197--242. Spp. 238--242 are recognized in Europe and North America as Sect. Armerina. 18. Sect. Minutissimae Pax: spp. 243--259. 19. Sect. Souliei I. B. Balfour ex W. W. Smith & Forrest: spp. 260--265. 20. Sect. Dryadifolia I. B. Balfour: spp. 266--268. 21. Sect. Denticulata Watt: spp. 269--274. 22. Sect. Capitatae Pax: spp. 275--276. 23. Sect. Muscarioides I. B. Balfour: spp. 277--289. 24. Sect. Soldanelloides Pax: spp. 290--300.


Key 9

1 Some leaf bases attenuate.   (2)
+ Leaf bases cordate or rounded.   (5)
       
2 (1) Flowers usually solitary.   (3)
+ Flowers (2 or)3 to many, in umbels.   (4)
       
3 (2) Leaf blade 3-4 mm wide, 3-lobed   268 Primula triloba
+ Leaf blade 4-8 mm wide, incised-dentate   298 Primula klattii
       
4 (2) Corolla lobes entire, tube pilose inside   70 Primula comata
+ Corolla lobes 3-toothed, tube glabrous inside   71 Primula taliensis
       
5 (1) Leaf blade suborbicular to reniform, margin obscurely undulate to subentire.   (6)
+ Leaf blade oblong or margin distinctly dentate or lobed.   (9)
       
6 (5) Abaxial surface of leaves and inflorescences farinose   10 Primula interjacens
+ Plants efarinose throughout.   (7)
       
7 (6) Petioles, scapes, abaxial surface of leaves woolly   13 Primula tsiangii
+ Petioles and scapes with rust-colored multicellular hairs; leaves sparsely pilose.   (8)
       
8 (7) Calyx 3-4 mm, parted to ± middle   11 Primula cavaleriei
+ Calyx 7-10 mm, parted to 1/3   12 Primula lithophila
       
9 (5) Scapes shorter than leaf rosette; pedicel often ca. as long as scape.   (10)
+ Scapes longer than leaf rosette, many times longer than pedicel.   (13)
       
10 (9) Inflorescences and abaxial surface of leaves ± farinose.   (11)
+ Plants efarinose throughout.   (12)
       
11 (10) Calyx parted below middle, lobes lanceolate to linear-lanceolate; fl. Mar-Apr   1 Primula duclouxii
+ Calyx parted to middle, lobes triangular to narrowly triangular; fl. Jun-Jul   2 Primula petrocallis
       
12 (10) Plants sparsely pilose; scapes with small leaves at apex; calyx 2-3 mm   3 Primula divaricata
+ Plants densely rust-colored pilose, scapes without leaves at apex; calyx ca. 4 mm   4 Primula epilithica
       
13 (9) Plants efarinose throughout.   (14)
+ Plants ± farinose.   (15)
       
14 (13) Scapes usually with many umbels; corolla tube 4-6 mm   8 Primula malacoides
+ Scapes with 1 or 2 umbels; corolla tube 8-9 mm   9 Primula pellucida
       
15 (13) Leaves glabrous, copiously white farinose abaxially   5 Primula hypoleuca
+ Leaves ± pubescent, efarinose or nearly so.   (16)
       
16 (15) Pin flower style ca. as long as corolla tube; stamens inserted at upper part of corolla tube in thrum flowers   8 Primula malacoides
+ Pin flower style ca. 1/2 as long as corolla tube; stamens inserted near middle of corolla tube in thrum flowers.   (17)
       
17 (16) Plants biennial, with numerous fibrous roots; corolla tube 4.5-5.5 mm   6 Primula forbesii
+ Plants perennial, with a short rhizome; corolla tube 7-8 mm   7 Primula effusa

List of Keys

  • List of lower taxa


     

    Related Objects  
  • PDF File
  • PDF

    Flora of Chile  
  • PDF
  • PDF
    Flora of North America  
  • Illustration
  • Illustration
  • Illustration
  • Illustration
    Ornamental Plants From Russia And Adjacent States Of The Former Soviet Union  
  • Primula woronowii (Tatyana Shulkina)
  • Image/JPEG

  • Flora of China @ efloras.org
    Browse by
    Volume
    Family
    Genera
    Advanced Search


    Flora of China Home


    Checklist

     

     

     |  eFlora Home |  People Search  |  Help  |  ActKey  |  Hu Cards  |  Glossary  |