Primula amethystina Franch., Bull. Soc. Bot. France. 32: 268. 1885.
Section Amethystina
Link to Flora of China description
Type specimen: Delavay 108 resides at Paris (specimens P00649624, P00649625, P04571173, P05250281, P04571177, P04571334) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024038) and NY Botanic Garden (specimen 329532) and KEW (specimen K000732910) and British Museum (specimen BM000996935).
P. amethystina ssp. amethystina: Flower lobes entire or slightly emarginate and with a mucro (sharp point) in the notch.
P. amethystina ssp. argutidens: W. W. Smith & H. R. Fletcher, Trans. Bot. Soc. Edinburgh. 33: 213. 1942. Type specimen: Pratt 761, Soulie 664 resides at Paris (specimens P00649627, P04571128, P04571129) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024040) and Harvard (specimen 00073527) and British Museum (specimen BM000996935).
P. argutidens (syn): Franchet, J. Bot. (Morot) 9: 451. 1895. Type specimen: Pratt 761, Soulie 664 resides at Paris (specimens P00649627, P04571128, P04571129) and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024040) and Harvard (specimen 00073527) and British Museum (specimen BM000996935).
P. riae (syn): Pax & K. Hoffmann, Repert. Spec. Nov. Regni. Veg. 17:95. 1921. Type specimen: Limpricht 1653, 1865A, 1937, 1980 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024374).
P. amethystina ssp. brevifolia: W. W. Smith & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 16: 13. 1928. Type specimen: Forrest 476 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024039).
P. brevifolia (syn): Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 4: 229. 1908. Type specimen: Forrest 476 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024039).
P. sikangensis (syn): Chen, Bull. Fan Mem. Inst. Biol., Bot. 9: 273 273 1940. Type specimen: Chen 6423 resides at Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (specimen ?).
Epithet: Named for the flower color.
Distribution: Sichuan, Tibet, Yunnan, China.
This species is efarinose, leaves with a short winged or indistinct petiole, margin denticulate to dentate, scape to 25cm with up to 20 violet flowers. Leaves are unusual in that they seem to emerge revolutely which quickly changes to appear involute as the leaf ages. This species was first collected on Cang Shan (Dali Xian). The subspecies amethystina, from Cang Shan, has flower lobes entire or slightly emarginate and with a mucro (sharp point) in the notch. Two additional subspecies are described: P. amethystina subsp. argutidens is from the northern part of the distribution, leaf margin markedly dentate, fewer flowers, flowers more flared from the base, shorter pedicels and P. amethystina subsp. brevifolia more widely distributed, taller, more flowers (3-20), flowers more tubular, longer pedicels, leaf margin finely denticulate. Both subspecies have flowers with lacerate-incised lobes. See related, P. virginis which is similar enough to be a subspecies.
