Primula vialii Delavay ex Franch.

Herbs perennial. Leaves forming a rosette; petiole winged, usually 1/5--1/2 as long as leaf blade at fruiting; leaf blade elliptic to oblong or oblanceolate, 10--30 X 2--4(--7) cm, abaxially pubescent mainly along veins, adaxially pubescent, base attenuate, margin remotely hydathode-denticulate, apex rounded. Scapes (15--)20--45(--60) cm, glabrous, scarcely farinose toward apex; spikes narrowly pyramidal, 2--5 cm at anthesis, elongating to 10--18 cm in fruit, densely flowered; bracts linear-lanceolate, 1--2 mm. Flowers heterostylous. Calyx bright crimson when young, becoming pink, globose-campanulate, 4--5 mm, parted below middle; lobes ovate to ovate-lanceolate, apex acute or occasionally dentate. Corolla rose-purple; tube 7--9 mm; limb 5--6 mm wide; lobes ovate to elliptic, 4--5 X ca. 4 mm, apex acute. Pin flowers: stamens ca. 1.5 mm above base of corolla tube; style ca. as long as tube. Thrum flowers with positions reciprocal. Capsule globose, slightly shorter than calyx. Fl. Jul. 2n = 20@.

SW Sichuan, N and NW Yunnan

* Wet meadows, near water in valleys; 2800--4000 m.

Primula littoniana Forrest; P. littoniana var. robusta Forrest.

Primula vialii, Vial's primrose, is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, originating from wet meadows, or near water in high valleys of SW Sichuan and northern Yunnan in southern China. Growing to 40 cm (16 in), it is a herbaceous perennial with erect stalks of flowers growing from basal rosettes of leaves. The flowers initially appear as narrow green spikes turning red, then opening pink from the base upwards, thus giving a striking bicoloured appearance.

The Latin specific epithet vialii honours Paul Vial (1855-1917).

This plant is cultivated as a garden ornamental, and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

There is a white flowered cultivar ‘Alison Holland’, which was discovered by 85-year old amateur gardener John Holland in his wild upland garden in northern England.

‘Alison Holland’