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hoary primrose, mealy primrose, silvery primrose

arctic primrose

Habit Plants 2–46 cm, herbaceous; rhizomes thin, short; rosettes not clumped; vegetative parts usually heavily whitish or yellowish farinose, sometimes efarinose, especially in age. Plants 2–40 cm, herbaceous; rhizomes short, thick; rosettes sometimes clumped; vegetative parts farinose at least when young.
Leaves

not aromatic, indistinctly petiolate;

petiole broadly winged;

blade without deep reticulate veins abaxially, elliptic to oblanceolate, 1–6 × 0.3–1.6 cm, thin, margins remotely denticulate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous.

not aromatic, indistinctly petiolate;

petiole winged;

blade without deep reticulate veins abaxially, broadly lanceolate, 4–6 × 0.7–3 cm, fleshy, margins entire or slightly serrate, apex acute to obtuse, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

4–19-flowered;

involucral bracts saccate, ± equal.

3–20-flowered;

involucral bracts plane, ± equal.

Pedicels

erect, thin, 3–9 mm, length ± 1 times bracts, stiff.

loosely erect to slightly nodding, somewhat thick, 3–30 mm, length 1–3 times bracts, flexuous.

Flowers

homostylous;

calyx green, broadly cylindric, 4–10 mm;

corolla lavender, tube 4–10 mm, length 1 times calyx, eglandular, limb 4–8 mm diam., lobes 2–4 mm, apex emarginate.

homostylous;

calyx green or greenish black, campanulate, 5–7 mm;

corolla rose-magenta, tube 5–7 mm, length 2 times calyx, eglandular, limb 10–20 mm diam., lobes 5–10 mm, apex unlobed to slightly emarginate.

Capsules

cylindric to ellipsoid, length 1.5–2 times calyx.

broadly cylindric, length 2–3 times calyx.

Seeds

without flanged edges, reticulate.

without flanged edges, vesiculate.

2n

= 54, 72.

= 22.

Primula incana

Primula pumila

Phenology Flowering summer. Flowering summer.
Habitat Alkaline clay soil in floodplains and moist open meadows Moist tundra slopes, solifluction terraces, late snowbeds
Elevation 0-3500 m (0-11500 ft) 0-500 m (0-1600 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AK; CO; ID; MT; ND; UT; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; ON; SK; YT
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; NT; YT; e Asia (Russian Far East)
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Primula incana is usually heavily farinose, at least when young, and has relatively tall scapes and tight umbels of homostylous flowers. As with some species of the genus, anthesis often begins before the scape is fully elongated; plants at first are quite small, but elongate throughout anthesis and typically become relatively tall and lanky in age. This has led to confusion with other arctic species, especially P. stricta, which has considerably less farina, a shorter scape, and a more maritime distribution. In fruiting stage, P. incana has been confused with P. laurentiana, which has looser umbels throughout anthesis, larger flowers, and a more eastern distribution. Primula incana generally replaces P. laurentiana to the west and south of Hudson Bay. The single octoploid count for P. incana is questionable; the species appears to be consistently hexaploid in other counts.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Primula pumila is usually a robust, stocky plant but varies in height, number of flowers, and leaf shape. At least some of this variability can be attributed to phenotypic plasticity in response to ecological factors; in rare instances when P. pumila grows in sympatry with P. tschuktschorum, some hybridization appears to occur (M. L. Carlson et al. 2008) and may contribute to morphological variation. Primula pumila often begins flowering when ascapose; the scape continues to elongate throughout anthesis. Young flowers can be herkogamous (with spatial separation of anthers and stigma) appearing almost distylous when the style protrudes from the corolla throat; tube elongation during flower maturation results in typical homostylous proximity of anthers and style when flowers are at full anthesis. Young plants are always white-farinose, unlike those of P. tschuktschorum, which are consistently efarinose. The farina can disappear with age leaving only remnants on the calyx. Nutrient-rich sites near bird perches or mammal colonies produce unusually robust individuals in both P. tschuktschorum and P. pumila; this is particularly apparent in specimens from the Bering Sea islands where abundant bird colonies and marine mammals contribute to fertile soils and the robust nature of many plants, a feature of the islands described by a number of early botanical visitors to the islands. Similarly, individuals from nutrient-poor or exposed alpine sites tend to be depauperate and may approximate the diminutive stature and reduced inflorescences of P. tschuktschorum.

Other minor morphological variations can be seen in leaf shape and dentation. Individuals of Primula pumila from southwestern Alaska have more broadly obtuse leaves with serrate margins, and plants from interior Alaska and Canada tend to have more acute lanceolate leaves. These differences are not strong enough to justify taxonomic recognition. Regardless of stature or leaf morphology, P. tschukstchorum and P. pumila can be reliably distinguished by the heterostylous and homostylous flowers, respectively.

Primula pumila has been treated previously as P. eximia. The inappropriate but earlier epithet pumila (“dwarf,” the antithesis of the usual habit of this species) has priority under the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature. Ledebour first applied it to a dwarf, homostylous collection of the species that Chamisso made at Saint Lawrence Bay, Alaska.

Primula arctica Koidzumi, based on a 1907 collection by Yokoyama from Port Providence, Chukotka, also refers to material of P. pumila. The earlier name P. arctica (Chamisso & Schlechtendal) Kuntze was based on Androsace arctica, now Douglasia ochotensis.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 292. FNA vol. 8, p. 296.
Parent taxa Primulaceae > Primula Primulaceae > Primula
Sibling taxa
P. alcalina, P. angustifolia, P. anvilensis, P. borealis, P. capillaris, P. cuneifolia, P. cusickiana, P. egaliksensis, P. laurentiana, P. mistassinica, P. nutans, P. parryi, P. pumila, P. rusbyi, P. specuicola, P. stricta, P. suffrutescens, P. tschuktschorum, P. veris
P. alcalina, P. angustifolia, P. anvilensis, P. borealis, P. capillaris, P. cuneifolia, P. cusickiana, P. egaliksensis, P. incana, P. laurentiana, P. mistassinica, P. nutans, P. parryi, P. rusbyi, P. specuicola, P. stricta, P. suffrutescens, P. tschuktschorum, P. veris
Synonyms P. americana, P. farinosa subsp. incana, P. farinosa var. incana P. nivalis var. pumila, P. eximia, P. macounii, P. pumila var. arctica, P. pumila var. ledebouriana, P. tschuktschorum var. arctica, P. tschuktschorum subsp. cairnesiana, P. tschuktschorum subsp. eximia, P. tschuktschorum var. pumila
Name authority M. E. Jones: Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci., ser. 2, 5: 706. 1895 , (Ledebour) Pax: Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 10: 208. 1888 ,
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