Primula laurentiana |
Primula cuneifolia |
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bird's-eye primrose, birdeye primrose, primevère laurentienne |
wedge-leaf primrose |
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Habit | Plants 10–48 cm, herbaceous; rhizomes thin, short; rosettes not clumped; vegetative parts usually farinose but sometimes efarinose in age. | Plants to 15 cm, herbaceous; rhizomes thin, short; rosettes single, not clumped; vegetative parts efarinose but often glandular. | ||||
Leaves | not aromatic, indistinctly petiolate; petiole broadly winged; blade without deep reticulate veins abaxially, oblanceolate to spatulate, 3–10 × 0.4–1.3 cm, thin, margins crenate, apex obtuse to acute, surfaces glabrous. |
not aromatic, petiolate; petiole winged; blade without deep reticulate veins abaxially, broadly cuneate, 1–6 × 0.8–1 cm, succulent, margins coarsely dentate, apex obtuse, surfaces glabrous. |
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Inflorescences | 3–12-flowered; involucral bracts saccate, ± equal. |
1–9-flowered; involucral bracts plane, unequal. |
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Pedicels | erect or spreading, sturdy, 5–10 mm, length ca. 2 times bracts, somewhat flexuous. |
erect, somewhat capillary, 3–20 mm, length 2–4 times bracts, flexuous. |
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Flowers | homostylous; calyx green, campanulate, 5–8 mm; corolla lavender, tube 6–9 mm, length 1.5–2 times calyx, eglandular, limb 10–16 mm diam., lobes 5–8 mm, apex emarginate. |
heterostylous or homostylous; calyx green, urceolate, 4–6 mm; corolla rose-pink, tube 4–6 mm, length 1–1.2 times calyx, glandular, limb 10–25 mm diam., lobes 5–10 mm, apex deeply cleft. |
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Capsules | ellipsoid, length 1.5–2 times calyx. |
globose, length 0.6–0.8 times calyx. |
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Seeds | without flanged edges, reticulate. |
with flanged edges, reticulate. |
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2n | = 72. |
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Primula laurentiana |
Primula cuneifolia |
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Phenology | Flowering summer. | |||||
Habitat | Moist open areas, meadows and stream banks on calcareous soils | |||||
Elevation | 0-300 m (0-1000 ft) | |||||
Distribution |
ME; NB; NL; NS; ON; QC
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AK; BC; Asia |
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Discussion | Primula laurentiana is the octoploid member of a polyploid complex of sect. Aleuritia in North America that encompasses ploidy levels from 2x to 14x. It is most similar to the hexaploid P. incana; it differs in its larger flowers, more open inflorescence, and more robust stature. Both species are heavily farinose and have homostylous flowers. The efarinose form described as forma chlorophylla Fernald is a common variant throughout the range of the species. In coastal northeastern Canada, P. laurentiana blends morphologically and ecologically with P. stricta and crossing between the two is likely; assessment of species identity can be difficult here. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
Subspecies 2 (2 in the flora). Heterostylous representatives of Primula cuneifolia occur primarily in Asia, where this form predominates and the homostylous taxon is quite rare. It is not known whether the Asian homostyles are directly related to the North American complex, or, alternatively, represent separate mutations to homostyly from the Asian heterostylous stock; additional genetic studies are needed to assess these relationships. In North America, the heterostylous subsp. cuneifolia has been found only in the western Aleutian Islands. The homostylous subsp. saxifragifolia is found throughout most of Alaska and south to Vancouver Island. The subspecies differ somewhat in their vegetative morphology. Subspecies saxifragifolia typically has shorter scapes and petioles and fewer flowers than subsp. cuneifolia; these characters overlap and may correlate at least in part to environmental factors. (Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.) |
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Key |
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Source | FNA vol. 8, p. 293. | FNA vol. 8, p. 297. | ||||
Parent taxa | Primulaceae > Primula | Primulaceae > Primula | ||||
Sibling taxa | ||||||
Subordinate taxa | ||||||
Synonyms | P. farinosa var. macropoda, P. mistassinica var. macropoda | |||||
Name authority | Fernald: Rhodora 30: 68. 1928 , | Ledebour: Mém. Acad. Imp. Sci. St. Pétersbourg Hist. Acad. 5: 522. 1815 , | ||||
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