Bird’s-eye Primrose

Common Name: Bird's-eye Primrose

Latin Name: Primula farinosa

Family: Primulaceae

There are 425 species of Primula worldwide. Most of these are found growing in China. Bird's-eye primrose has pink or lilac flowers and dusty looking leaves. Worldwide it has a northern temperate natural distribution and within the United Kingdom it is virtually restricted to damp grassy, stony or peaty ground on limestone in the Northern Pennines and the Lake District of England. As a result the plant is often known locally as the Yorkshire primrose.

Primula species have a mechanism to ensure cross pollination. Some plants bear flowers which have short styles and anthers at the mouth of the flower and other plants bear flowers with long styles and anthers down inside the flower. In addition to the different positions of styles and anthers there are also different types of pollen and stigma.

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park the bird's-eye primrose can be seen flowering in May and June in base-rich flush habitats in the south western area of the Park. For example, it often grows alongside the common butterwort near the peaks of Pen-y-ghent and Ingleborough.