Primula sachalinensis Nakai
Section Aleuritia
Type specimen: Masae Gozeki,s.n. (Sachalin: in humidis secus Bakenuma, Hoyankei) resides at TI? and E (specimen E00024027).
P. sachalinensis Nakai f. albida Y.N.Lee: without type specimen, photograph included on page 601.
Epithet: Named for Sakhalin island.
Distribution: Eastern Russia (Sakhalin).
A highly variable species endemic to Sakhalin which grows on the freshly ejected mud substrate from mud volcanoes. This was once thought to be a variation within Primula farinosa, but through genetic analyses it has been proven to be distinct and more closely related to P. mistassinica, P. modesta and P. incana. It is distinguished by the base of the bracts being gibbous. Primula farinosa does not occur elsewhere on Sakhalin. Further comparison with Primula farinosa var. xanthophylla from Shantar Islands and Castries Bay would be useful. Y.N.Lee described P. sachalinensis f. albida as being a white flowered form, and though he included a photograph, he did not specifically include reference to a type specimen. The caption for his photograph says that he took it at "백두산" which is Mount Baekdu (also called Paektu or Changbai) on the North Korea / China border. This has caused confusion and Primula sachalinensis is mistakenly thought to occur in Samjiyon county, North Korea and Jilin province, China because of this. Mount Baekdu is not the same as Bakenuma in the original description of P. sachalinensis.
