Primula is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. They include the primrose, a familiar wildflower of banks and verges. Other common species are P. auricula (auricula), P. veris (cowslip), and P. elatior (oxlip). These species and many others are valued for their ornamental flowers. They have been extensively cultivated and hybridised. Primula are native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere, south into tropical mountains in Ethiopia, Indonesia, and New Guinea, and in temperate southern South America. Almost half of the known species are from the Himalayas.
Cowslip primroses have two flower types that depend on each other to reproduce, but this study found they differ in germination and stress responses. Seeds from the shorter-styled morph sprouted more reliably, and the two types responded in opposite ways to fertilizer and competition, meaning land-use changes can shift which type dominates a population over time.
