''Primula bracteosa'', the orange throated primrose, is a perennial species of primrose which is found on rocky crevices and of ravines at the altitudes of in southern Xizhang,

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainou ...

northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...

Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Silig ...

and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

History

The first specimen was collected in the 19th-century in Bhutan by

William Cooper William Cooper may refer to: Business *William Cooper (accountant) (1826–1871), founder of Cooper Brothers * William Cooper (businessman) (1761–1840), Canadian businessman *William Cooper (co-operator) (1822–1868), English co-operator * Will ...

and William Griffith. The species was not studied back then, and was rediscovered again by

Frank Ludlow Frank Ludlow OBE (10 August 1885 – 25 March 1972) was an English officer stationed in the British Mission at Lhasa and a naturalist. Life He was born in Chelsea, London and studied at West Somerset County School and Sidney Sussex College, Ca ...

and Sherriff in 1950s in Nepal.

Description

''Primula bracteosa'' have dimorphic leaves, the outer of which are long and are spoon-shaped to obovate-spoon-shaped. It has a tapering, flat to heart-shaped base which goes into a short winged stalk which have a rounded tip and carries long inner leaves. Leaf blades are ovate to oblong-ovate and are long. The species' margin is irregularly toothed and have rounded tip just like its winged stalk. Flowering stem is long, is white powdered at the top and can elongate up to when

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...

s appear. Flowers are wide, are pinkish lilac in color with orange-yellow throat, appear out of solitary

umbel In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin ''umbella'' "p ...

in a few or many and grow on a long tube. Bracts, while producing wide stalked leaves, are linear to lance-shaped, glandular, hairy and are long. The

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

of a flower is long while the species'

sepal A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...

is ovate to ovate-oblong, bell-shaped, long and is as white powdered as the flowering stem. Petals are broadly obovate and prominently toothed tips. They bloom from March to April.

References

bracteosa Flora of Tibet Flora of Nepal Flora of East Himalaya Flora of Assam (region) Taxa named by William Grant Craib {{Primulaceae-stub