Primula kingii G. Watt, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 20: 9. 1882. drawing Plate 7.
Section Amethystina
Link to Flora of China description
Link to Flora of Bhutan description
Type specimen: King's collector 4374 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024379) and Kew (specimens K000750096, K000750097).
Primula gageana (syn): Balf. f. & W. W. Smith, Notes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 9:18. 1915. Type specimen: King's Collector, July 1886 (Joolong, Sikkim) resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimens E00024380, E00024381).
Primula dickieana var. gouldii (syn): Fletcher, J. Linn. Soc., Bot. 52:338. 1942. Type specimen: Gould 559 resides at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (specimen E00024382).
Additional reference: Rai & Das, A new record for West Bengal, India Pleione 6(2): 438 - 441. 2012.
Epithet: Named for Sir George King.
Distribution: Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, NE India, Bhutan, SE Tibet (Xizang).
The velvet, deep red flowers and glossy leaves of P. kingii are unmistakable. Grows in very wet conditions, peaty meadows. See related P. odontica (differs in the very toothed leaves) and P. valentiniana (differs in the shorter, broad calyx and hairs in the corolla tube).
