PRIMROSE 2012

Primrose is a perennial plant up to 15 cm high. Light green, ripply and wizened leaves with rolled rim grow in a rosette, close to soil: they are longish, irregularly jagged and on the back side hairy and gradually end in a short, sheltered stalk. Singular flowers do not have flower stems but grow directly from the base, i.e. the leaf rosette; at the same time there appear up to 25 of them on the same plant. Light yellow corolla with dark spots in the opening consists of five petals that are in their lower parts grown together a tube, while their free tops are incised in two parts. The primrose blossoms immediately upon snow melting, from the end of February to April: thus also the scientific name of the family is derived from the Latin word primus=first, suggesting early blossoming. The fruit is an oval capsule full of dark brown, warty seeds. It grows on meadows in sunny and dry habitats, between bushes, on slopes and on borders of light deciduous forests of West and South Europe, Northwest Africa and Southwest Asia. In greater part of Europe and also in Croatia the primrose is protected sort, every day more rare. The leaves of the primrose are rich in C vitamin: they can be eaten also raw, but do not taste good because they contain saponosyds. These compounds have a beneficial effect on throat clearing (expectoration), and since the primrose contains also salicyilates which lower fever and calm down inflammation processes, it is obvious why already for centuries the primrose syrup has been used to cure cough and cold. The flowers are added as decoration into salads and if they are candied and fermented the “primrose wine” can be extracted. The tea made of primrose’s root is a mild sedative efficient in curing headache, while the primrose’s oil helps to cure skin injuries and burns. In horticulture it is used as ground cover so that even more cultivars have been bred.