Common name:
Cowslip
Family:
Scientific name:
Primula veris
Main flower color:
Range:
England, Wales, Ireland and southern Scotland
Height:
Up to 30 cm
Habitat:
Dry grassland, open woodland, often on calcareous soils
Flowers:
Funnel-shaped, with a narrow, yellow corolla tube, widening abruptly to five overlapping lobes, each with an orange patch near the base, on the inside. The ribbed calyx is as long as the corolla tube, and has five small, blunt-tipped lobes at the tip. Calyces, stalks and stems have a covering of downy hairs. Flowers are pendent, produced in a terminal cluster of up to 30, and tend to be concentrated to one side
Leaves:
Oblanceolate, hairy, up to 15 cm long, gradually tapered at the base, with a wrinkled surface; in a basal rosette
Season:
April to May
Rarity:
★★★★★
