Primula bella Franch., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 32: 268. 1885.
Section Minutissimae
Link to Flora of China description
Type specimen: Delavay s.n. "Yunnan, au sommet du mont Tsang-chan", 4 Aug 1884 resides at Paris (specimens P04571422, P04571424, P04571429, P04571435, P05250283) and New York Botanic Garden (specimen 329533).
P. bonatiana (syn): Petitm., Bull. Herb. Boissier Ser. II. vii. 526. 1907. Type specimen: Soulie 1131 resides at Paris (specimen P04571527). Reduced farina, very short scape, long corolla tube.
P. coryphaea (syn): Balf.f. & Kingdon-Ward, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 9: 15. 1915. Type specimen: Ward 1805 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024537). Burma. Tightly congested, scape almost obsolete.
P. cyclostegia (syn): Hand.-Mazz., Anz. Akad. Wiss. Wien, Math.-Naturwiss. Kl. 1920, lvii. 87. (March 1920) Type specimen: Handel-Mazzetti 4722 resides at Universität Wien (specimen WU 0059715) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024196) and Paris (specimen P04571721). Large orbicular bracts.
P. nanobella (syn): Balf.f. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 13: 15. 1920. (September 1920) Type specimen: Forrest 2399 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024197). = cyclostegia.
P. sciophila (syn): Balf.f. & Kingdon-Ward, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 9: 43. 1915. Type specimen: Ward 1784 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024531). Burma. = coryphaea.
P. stragulata (syn): Balf.f. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 13: 20. 1920. Type specimen: Forrest 18893 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimens E00024532, E00024533). = bonatiana.
P. magnobella (nomen): Balf.f. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 9: 187. 1916.
P. bella subsp. bonatiana (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. coryphaea (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. cyclostegia (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. nanobella (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. sciophila (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. stragulata (syn): W.W.Sm. & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 15. 1928.
P. bella subsp. wamungensis (nomen): Halda, Gen. Primula 286. 1992.
Epithet: Named for the flower shape.
Distribution: SW Sichuan, NW Yunnan, SE Tibet (Xizang), China, N Burma.
Franchet's original description doesn't cite a collection number, but in Paris are several collections from Tsang-chan (Cang Shan), some numbered as either 749 or 292. The sheet which seems to match the original description best is P04571424. This variable species has several synonyms with distinctions made by the amount of farina, length of scape and shape of bracts. The Flora of China lumps the Chinese forms into P. bella with no distinctions at the subspecies level. The variant from Burma, P. coryphaea / P. sciophila, may have some merit as distinct but this can not be decided until further collections are made. The name P. nanobella has been used often in recent years (see Primula by Richards) to describe plants with a purple pom-pom of hairs in the throat, surrounded by a darker ring of deep purple, but the amount of coloring is variable and this may equate to the previously described P. cyclostegia. See also related species P. barbatula.
