''Primula specuicola'' (common names - cavedwelling primrose,
cave primrose, Easter flower) is
perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
in the primrose family (
Primulaceae) found in the
Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.
[Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, ]
Description
Growth pattern
It is a perennial plant from tall with withered leaves at the base.
[
]
Leaves and stems
leaves are green on top and whitish underneath, spatula shaped ( spatulate) to elliptical
Elliptical may mean:
* having the shape of an ellipse, or more broadly, any oval shape
** in botany, having an elliptic leaf shape
** of aircraft wings, having an elliptical planform
* characterised by ellipsis (the omission of words), or by conc ...
, and sometimes toothed at the margins.[
]
Inflorescence and fruit
It is one of the earliest bloomers in its habitat, blooming from February to June.[ "Primula" means first, referring to the early bloom time of the ]genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
.[ The inflorescence is a cluster of flowers at the end of a leafless stalk.][ The flowers are lavender to pink, have a corolla tube with a yellow ring at the mouth, and then flare into five lobes, with two lobes at the end of each of the 5.
]
Habitat and range
It only grows in the Colorado Plateau
The Colorado Plateau, also known as the Colorado Plateau Province, is a physiographic and desert region of the Intermontane Plateaus, roughly centered on the Four Corners region of the southwestern United States. This province covers an area of ...
(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 ...
) near seeps
A petroleum seep is a place where natural liquid or gaseous hydrocarbons escape to the earth's atmosphere and surface, normally under low pressure or flow. Seeps generally occur above either terrestrial or offshore petroleum accumulation stru ...
and hanging gardens.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15331751
specuicola
Flora of the Southwestern United States
Flora of the Western United States
Flora without expected TNC conservation status