Primula forbesii Franch.
Section Monocarpicae
Link to Flora of China description
Type specimens Delavay 858 and 311 reside at P (specimens P04567410 (lectotype), P04567405 (isolectotype), P05250285 (syntype), P01029599 (syntype), P01029601 (syntype), P01029602 (syntype), P04567379 (syntype), P04567380 (syntype), P04567391 (syntype), P04567401 (syntype), P04567403 (syntype), P04567409 (syntype)).
Primula androsacea Pax
Primula barbeyana Petitm.
Primula forbesii subsp. androsacea (Pax) W.W.Sm. & Forrest
Primula forbesii subsp. barbeyana (Petitm.) W.W.Sm. & Forrest
Primula forbesii subsp. multicaulis (Petitm.) W.W.Sm. & Forrest
Primula forbesii subsp. willmottiae (Petitm.) W.W.Sm. & Forrest
Primula multicaulis Petitm.
Primula willmottiae Petitm.
Epithet: Named for the botanist John Forbes?
Distribution: Yunnan, Sichuan.
Primula forbesii was described from collections made by Delavay in the late 1800's from marshes, canal edges and rice-fields at Tapintze near Dali, Yunnan. P. malacoides was also collected near Dali, but from cultivated fields. The two species can be difficult to distinguish. In P. forbesii the leaves form a dense rosette, the petioles are shorter, and the leaf margin has broad superficial crenations which are denticulate but not inscised, the pedicels are shorter, and the scapes are longer . The lowest tier of flowers far exceeds the leaves. Intermediates occur between the two species. In 1891, P. forbesii came into cultivation and some plants currently in cultivation thought to be P. malacoides may be P. forbesii. Collections have also been made in Sichuan at Tatsienlu and were described intially as P. barbeyana. See also P. hypoleuca. The images below are cultivated.
