Primula elatior

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Primula elatior
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Primulaceae
Genus:	Primula
Species:	P. elatior
Binomial name
Primula elatior Hill, 1765

Primula elatior, the oxlip (or True oxlip), is a flowering plant in the genus Primula, found in nutrient- and calcium-rich damp woods and meadows throughout Europe with northern bordes in Denmark and southern parts of Sweden, eastwards to Altai Mountains and on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. In the British Isles, it is found only in the east, and mainly in East Anglia. P. elatior may be found in the wild, normally near settlements, as far north as northern Norway, after escaping cultivation.

It is a low growing herbaceous perennial plant with a rosette of leaves 5–15 cm long and 2–6 cm broad. The light yellow flowers are produced in the spring between April and May; they are in clusters of 10-30 together on a single stem 10–30 cm tall, each flower 9–15 mm broad.

It may be confused with the closely related Primula veris (cowslip) which has a similar general appearance although P. veris has smaller, bellshaped, bright yellow flowers (and red dots inside the flower), and a corolla tube without folds. The leaves of P. veris are more spade-shaped than P. elatior.

Comparison between flower heads of P. veris (left) and P. elatior (right)

The Oxlip was voted the County flower of Suffolk in 2002 following a poll by the wild plant conservation charity Plantlife.^[1]

References

1. ^ Plantlife website County Flowers page

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