''Primula capillaris'' is a rare species of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

in the primrose family known by the common name Ruby Mountains primrose, or Ruby Mountain primrose. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

in the United States, where it is limited to the

Ruby Mountains The Ruby Mountains are a mountain range, primarily located within Elko County with a small extension into White Pine County, in Nevada, United States. Most of the range is included within the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest. The range reache ...

Elko County Elko County is a county in the northeastern corner of Nevada, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 53,702. Its county seat is Elko. The county was established on March 5, 1869, from Lander County. Elko County is the fourth ...

.''Primula capillaris''.
The Nature Conservancy. This small plant is a few centimeters tall, growing from a short

rhizome In botany and dendrology, a rhizome (; , ) is a modified subterranean plant stem that sends out roots and shoots from its nodes. Rhizomes are also called creeping rootstalks or just rootstalks. Rhizomes develop from axillary buds and grow hori ...

. The thick, hairless leaves are linear or somewhat lance-shaped, 1 to 6 centimeters long and no more than half a centimeter wide with rounded tips. The delicate, showy flower has a bell-shaped calyx of green

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 coined b ...

s. The corolla is reddish or bluish purple with a yellow center.''Primula capillaris''.
Flora of North America. Blooming occurs in July and August. This plant occurs in

subalpine Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

climates at

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s between 2710 and 3160 meters, in meadows and coniferous forest and woodland habitat. It grows on soils derived from

glacial till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

, sometimes in mats of ''

Selaginella ''Selaginella'' is the sole genus of vascular plants in the family Selaginellaceae, the spikemosses or lesser clubmosses. This family is distinguished from Lycopodiaceae (the clubmosses) by having scale-leaves bearing a ligule and by having ...

'', such as Watson's spikemoss (''Selaginella watsonii''). Other plants in the habitat include fewseed draba (''Draba oligosperma''), alpine avens (''Geum rossii''),

shrubby cinquefoil ''Dasiphora fruticosa'' is a species of hardiness (plants), hardy deciduous flowering shrub in the family (biology), family Rosaceae, native plant, native to the cool temperateness, temperate and subarctic regions of the northern hemisphere, oft ...

(''Potentilla fruticosa''), orpine stonecrop,

mountain sorrel ''Oxyria digyna'' (mountain sorrel, wood sorrel, Alpine sorrel or Alpine mountain-sorrel) is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family (Polygonaceae).Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd ed., 2013, p. 108 It is native to arctic ...

(''Oxyria digyna''), smooth prairie star (''Lithophragma glabra''), Pacific woodrush (''Luzula comosa''), bluebells (''Mertensia ciliata''), and

whitebark pine ''Pinus albicaulis'', known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine ...

(''Pinus albicaulis''). Threats to this attractive plant include

poaching Poaching has been defined as the illegal hunting or capturing of wild animals, usually associated with land use rights. Poaching was once performed by impoverished peasants for subsistence purposes and to supplement meager diets. It was set a ...

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7243686 capillaris Flora of Nevada Plants described in 1974