I love primroses. My favourites are the wild yellow primroses that grow on roadside banks and in damp woodlands. The primroses in these photographs are cultivated plants and a much deeper, orange-yellow than their wild cousins.
The name Primrose comes from the Old French 'primerose' or mediaeval Latin 'prima rosa' meaning 'first rose'.
Pin flower on the left, thrum flower on the right
Individual plants carry either 'pin' flowers, where the style is prominent, or 'thrum' flowers in which the stamens are prominent. Pin to pin and thrum to thrum pollination is doomed to failure as fertilisation can only take place between pin and thrum flowers.
It is an offence in the UK under the 'Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981' to pick the flowers or remove wild primrose plants. It is illegal in many other countries too.
Flowers and leaves are edible in salads - the flavour ranges from mild to bitter. The leaves can also be used to make an infusion of tea.Young flowers can be fermented to produce primrose wine.
The primrose was Benjamin Disraeli's favourite flower and the Primrose League, an organisation founded to spread Conservative principles, was named to commemorate this.The organisation was founded in 1883 and remained active until the mid-1990s. It was finally wound up in December 2004. Whether this was because it had achieved its aims or because all hope had been abandoned is not known!
Thank you to the 'Today's Flowers' team for organising and hosting this meme. To see more beautiful blooms around the world please click here.
