Flora of North America species comparison

Primula mistassinica is the most widespread of the North American primroses, and one of the more polymorphic. It can vary in size, leaf morphology, and amount of farina; it is generally consistent in overall habit and floral morphology. Infraspecific taxa previously recognized include var. intercedens, a farinose form common around the Great Lakes, and var. novaeboracensis, a form without a prominent yellow eye in the corolla tube. Isolated individuals showing these characteristics appear throughout the range of the species, and an extensive examination of the complex by H. W. Vogelmann (1956, 1960) led him to conclude that it is best treated as a single, highly variable species; recent molecular analyses (A. Guggisberg et al. 2006) support this assessment. Around the Great Lakes, the presence of farina on the leaves is especially variable, and can range from extensive to nonexistent. Consequently, it seems most appropriate to recognize a single polymorphic taxon with no infraspecific designations, unless molecular analysis suggests otherwise. Although smaller forms of P. mistassinica often have been confused with other species in sect. Aleuritia, it is usually distinguishable by its relatively large heterostylous flowers with lavender corollas.

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