Cowslip - Primula veris
Low to short hairy plant. Leaves oblong and abruptly narrowing into the stalk. Flowers deep yellow 9 to 15 mm with orange markings in the centre, sweetly fragrant up to 30 in nodding one-sided cluster.
Primroses and 'Polyanthas' escaped from gardens.
Grassy habitats, meadows and pastures etc. It is often introduced as seed or small plants in natural landscaping schemes
April and May.
Perennial.
Less common than previously in Britain having suffered a severe decline. It can however be quite abundant where it is found.
In the 1979 Flora survey of Leicestershire it was found in 288 of the 617 tetrads.
In the current Checklist (Jeeves, 2011) it is listed as Native; old grassland, avoiding acid soils; locally abundant.
Leicestershire & Rutland Map
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Yellow squares = NBN records (all known data)
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Species profile
- Common names
- Cowslip
- Species group:
- flowering plant
- Kingdom:
- Plantae
- Order:
- Ericales
- Family:
- Primulaceae
- Records on NatureSpot:
- 470
- First record:
- 11/05/1992 (John Mousley;Steve Grover)
- Last record:
- 13/04/2026 (Katie Field)
Total records by month
% of records within its species group
10km squares with records
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Chromatomyia primulae
The larva of the Agromyzid fly Chromatomyia primulae mines the leaves of Primrose and Cowslip. The leafmine is white and in long, narrow corridors. Frass usually appears as large, well-spaced grains.



















































