Primula woodwardii Balf.f.
Section Crystallophlomis, Subsection Maximowiczii
Link to Flora of China description
Type specimen: cult. from seeds of Owen s.n., s.d. (Gansu) resides at E (specimens E00505333, E00531119).
Epithet: Named for R.W. Woodward who raised plants from seeds collected by Fenwick Owen, that were used to describe the species.
Distribution: S. Gansu, E. Qinghai, S Shaanxi.
This species was described from cultivated plants raised from seed collected in Northern Peling, Gansu. It is very similar to P. purdomii which was described from cultivated plants also raised from seed collected in Gansu but differs in the corolla. According to the Flora of China, the plants growing at Taibai Shan (Shaanxi) are P. woodwardii and represent the majority of the images below. This species is distinguished by the elongate and narrow corolla lobes with tubes darker than the corolla, the lobulate annulus and the tendency to lack farina. It features a long stalk surrounded by imbricate bud scales. The leaves, scape, pedicels and calyx are covered in minute farinipotent glandular hairs that may show farina or may be efarinose.
