Primula veris

English: Cowslip - Common Cowslip - Cowslip Primrose
Nederlands: Gulden sleutelbloem
Español: Primaveras - Cacaleta
Français: Primevère officinale - Brérelle - Coqueluchon - Coucou
Deutsch: Echte Schlüsselblume

Family: Primulaceae - Primrose family
Flowering time: April - June (sometimes again in autumn)
Height: 7-35cm
Altitude: to 2300m
Colour: deep yellow, five orange markings in the centre
Leaves: oblong, broadest near the base and abruptly narrowed
Habitat: meadows, scrub, open woodland, river banks, coastal dunes, clifftops, roadsides, calcareous soils
Distribution: most european countries, but rare in most northern and most southern parts
Synonym: Primula officinalis





Notes: Primula veris has up to thirty flowers in one-sided clusters. It is a food plant of the Duke of Burgundy Fritillary (Hamearis lucina). In some countries like the Netherlands and Great Britain this spring flower is cultivated in gardens. Cowslip frequently hybridizes with other Primulas such as Primula vulgaris to form Primula x tommasinii and with Primula elatior to form Primula x media. Primula veris is on the Dutch Red List of vascular plants, classified as rare. In the Picos de Europa the subspecies Primula veris subsp. columnae can be found.

Related key words: Heemtuin Vlaardingen, Heemtuin Bloemendaal, Nederlandse Rode Lijst, chalk grassland, kalkgrasland, bijgoed stinsenflora, Pyrenees, Pyreneeën, Pirineos, Linza (Ansó), Gallinera-Carriata (Torla), Llanos del Hospital (Benasque)