Japanese Cowslip

Primula japonica

Please keep in mind that it is illegal to uproot a plant without the landowner's consent and care should be taken at all times not to damage wild plants. Wild plants should never be picked for pleasure and some plants are protected by law.
For more information please download the BSBI Code of Conduct PDF document.

Plant Data

Flowering Months:

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

Order:

Ericales

Family:

Primulaceae (Primrose)

Also in this family:

Bird's-eye Primrose, Common Primrose, Cowslip, Creeping Jenny, Dotted Loosestrife, False Oxlip, Fringed Loosestrife, Scarlet Pimpernel, Sea Milkwort, Sowbread, Yellow Loosestrife, Yellow Pimpernel

Type:

Flower

Life Cycle:

Perennial

Maximum Size:

45 centimetres tall

Habitats:

Gardens, meadows, riversides, woodland.

Flower:

Variable in colour, 5 petals

Whorls of flowers at the top the upright main stem. The ostentatious flowers can be of various colours, most often pink, red, purple and white.

Fruit:

Dry, splitting open when ripe, up to 8mm long.

Leaves:

Lettuce-like. Basal leaves only, simple and toothed, up to 10 inches long. Light green and wrinkly.

Other Names:

Candelabra Primrose, Candelabra Primula, Japanese Primrose.

Frequency (UK):

Unusual

Distribution Map

Reproduced by kind permission of the BSBI.

Click to open an Interactive Map