Primula calderiana I. B. Balfour & Cooper in I. B. Balfour, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 9: 7. 1915.
Section Petiolares, Subsection Griffithii
Link to Flora of China description
Link to Nepal checklist
Type specimens: Cooper 20 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024678) and W. W. Smith 3285 resides at Calcutta.
P . calderiana f. calderiana (syn): (Balf. f. & Cooper) Gould in H. Hara et al., Enum. Flow. Pl. Nep. 3: 70 (1982).
P . calderiana f. alba (syn): (W. W. Smith) H. Hara, Fl. E. Him. 246 (1966).
P. calderiana var. alba (syn): (W. W. Smith) W. W. Smith & H. R. Fletcher, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh. 61:302. 1944. Type specimen: Ludlow and Sherriff 1754 resides at British Museum (specimen BM000996794).
P. calderiana var. acaulescens (syn): W. W. Smith & H. R. Fletcher, Trans. Roy. Soc. Edinburgh. 61:302. 1944. Type specimen: Watt 5376 (pro parte) resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024679) and Clarke 34973A resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00100988).
P. obtusifolia var. roylei (syn): Hooker f. , Flora Brit. India 3:489. 1882.
P. roylei (syn): I. B. Balfour & W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 9:198. 1916. Type specimen: Ribu and Rhomoo s.n. resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024674), Dr King's Collector s.n. resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024675) and Watt 5376 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024671). Additional specimens at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh are: Cave 30th May 1913, Rhomoo 928 and Cave 29th May 1914.
P. roylei var. acaulescens (syn): W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 9:200. 1916. Type specimen: Watt 5376 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024679) and Clarke 34973 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00100988).
P. roylei ssp. calderiana (syn): (I. B. Balfour & Cooper) W. W. Smith & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 16:36. 1928.
P. dianae (syn): I.B. Balfour & Cooper, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 9:163. 1916. Type specimen: Cooper 4000 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024672, E00024673).
P. roylei ssp. dianae (syn): W. W. Smith & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 16:36. 1928.
P. gammieana (syn): King. ex I. B. Balfour, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 9:168. 1916. Type specimen: Pantling s.n. resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024676) and Youghusband s.n. resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024677).
P. roylei ssp. gammieana (syn): W. W. Smith & Forrest, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 16:36. 1928.
P. roylei var. alba (syn): W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 19:211. 1937. Type specimen: Ludlow and Sherriff 1754 resides at British Museum (specimen BM000996794).
P. laeta (syn): W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh. 19:211. 1937. Type specimen: Ludlow and Sherriff 1910 resides at US National Herbarium (specimen US00116486) and British Museum (specimen BM000996789).
Distribution: Nepal, Bhutan, China (Tibet), India (Assam, Sikkim)
Initially this species was thought to be P. obtusifolia but later collections cleared up this misunderstanding. An attempt to consolidate the species under the name P. roylei was thwarted by an earlier publication of the name P. calderiana which resulted in many of the numerous references listed above. P. laeta was thought to be a separate species by the location (Tibet), much more farina, larger calyx and corolla, and darker colored flowers. However more typical forms are also found in Tibet and so this is may be considered a synonym. Where P. calderiana and P. strumosa (yellow flowered species considered by John Richards to be a subspecies of P. calderiana J. Scot. Rock G. Club 15(3): 211. 1977.) meet, hybrids of all colors are created including white forms tinged with purple that may be the origin of 'var. alba'. All countries in the distribution are represented in this set. Primula calderiana is a robust member of the Section (to 30cm) which has blue, mauve, puple or white annulate flowers. It has a disagreeable smell. The capsule is typical of the Section in that it has a thin membrane which crumbles at maturity,
