Primula jaffreyana King
Section Aleuritia (Pulchella)Link to Flora of China description
Type specimen: Chumbi valley, at elevations of about 12,000 feet, Dr. King's collector resides at CAL (holotype specimen CAL0000017350) and E (isotype specimen E00024455).
Primula lhasaensis Balf.f.
Primula jaffreyana subsp. lhasaensis Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 16: 34 (1928).
Epithet: Named for Mr. A. T. Jaffrey, past curator of the Botanic Gaden, Darjeeling.
Distribution: Tibet, India.
P. jaffreyana was originally collected in the Chumbi valley, Tibet, but herbarium material is scarce. Material collected to the east in SE Tibet is much more available under the synonym P. lhasaensis, collected from Lhasa, Tibet. John Richards includes P. tayloriana and P. knuthiana as synonyms however Flora of China keeps both as a distinct species. P. jaffreyana is distinguished by its tubular calyx, 7-12mm, farinose inside and outside, parted to the middle into lanceolate, acute teeth that are prominently 5-angled. It is a farinose species, with leaves obovate-elliptic to oblanceolate, margin conspicuously and irregularly dentate, a distinct, winged petiole usually shorter than the blade, covered in thick farina below but with the midrib and lateral nerves exposed. Scape to 25cm, farinose towards the apex with 3-13 flowers, bracts slightly swollen at the base but not saccate. Corolla is mauve with a green or yellow eye, heteromorphic and annulate, lobes emarginate. See related P. tayloriana, P. stenocalyx, P. scopulorum and P. hazarica.
