Primula ovalifolia Franch., Bull. Soc. Bot. France 33: 67. 1886.
Section Davidii
Link to Flora of China description
Type specimen: David s.n. March 1869 (Moupine) resides at Paris (specimens P04567162, P04567164, P04567168) and KEW (specimens K000750134, K000750135) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024332).
P. aequipila (syn): Craib, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 11: 169. 1919. Type specimen: E. Wilson 52 resides at KEW (specimen K000750139) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimens E00024333, E00024334) and Harvard (specimen 00073526) and Paris (specimen P04567167) and Herbarium Hamburgense (specimen HBG510920) and NY Botanical Garden (specimen 329531).
P. limprichtii (syn): Pax & K. Hoffm., Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni Veg. 17:94. 1921. Type specimen: Limpricht 1259 resides at Universität Wien (specimen WU 0059736) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00284625).
P. macropoda (syn): Craib, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 11: 176. 1919. Type specimen: A. Henry 8860 resides at Kew (specimen K000750137) and Paris (specimen P04567166).
P. polia (syn): Craib, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 11: 177. 1919. Type specimen: Maire s.n., April 1913 (Ou-tschai, Yunnan), Maire s.n. Lo-han-lin, Maire s.n. boisees de Ou-tchai resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimens E00024336, E00024337, E00024338, E00024339, E00024340).
P. ovalifolia ssp. tardiflora: Has been elevated to species staus at present. See under P. tardiflora.
Epithet: Named for the leaf shape.
Distribution: Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Sichuan, Yunnan.
Note that some P. ovalifolia type sheets are dated 1870 rather than 1869. A member of the Davidii section (Section Petiolares, subsection Davidii) and characterized by being efarinose, with reddish bud scales. Leaves are firm papery or subleathery, broadly obovate to broadly elliptic , apex rounded, sometimes retuse, margin obscurely crenate or hydathode-denticulate, base rounded to shortly cuneate, mostly glabrous above (a few hairs) and covered below with hairs, especially on the veins. Scapes 5-18cm, pilose but becoming glabrous in fruit, with 2-9 annulate, bluish-purple to violet flowers with obovate, deeply emarginate lobes. This species has a wide distribution and grows in shady, moist places in forests.
