(Sub-genus Aleuritia, section Proliferae)
The information in this section is taken largely from Halda (The Genus Primula in Cultivation and the Wild), Richards (Primula) and Swindells (A Plantsman’s Guide to Primulas). See Some Recommended Books. Click here to see candelabra primroses in the Barnhaven website.


General distribution – east Nepal through Sikkim, Bhutan, south-east Tibet, Assam, northern Burma to north-east Yunnan and east Sichuan, also in Java, Sumatra, Japan, and Taiwan.
Name |
Origin |
Native growing conditions |
Brief Description |
Blooming time |
P. aurantiaca |
West Yunnan |
beside streams, alpine pastures |
deep red-orange flowers – stems to 30 cm |
June to August |
P. beesiana
(Richards says beesiana is a sub-species of bulleyana) |
NW Yunnan, SW Sichuan |
moist mountain meadows, damp open forest |
flowers rose-carmine with yellow eye and orange tube – stems to 60 cm |
June to August |
P. bulleyana
|
NW Yunnan |
moist mountain meadows |
flowers start crimson, become orange- yellow when mature – stems to 70 cm |
June to August |
P. x bullesiana |
garden hybrid |
|
multi-coloured flowers, yellow to crimson |
June to August |
P. burmanica
(Halda says burmanica is a form of beesiana) |
Burma-Yunnan frontier |
marshy meadows, wet clearings in conifer forests |
purple to crimson flowers with a greeny-orange eye and purple tube – stems to 60 cm |
May to June |
Name |
Origin |
Native growing conditions |
Brief Description |
Blooming time |
P. chungensis |
Bhutan, Assam, W Sichuan, W Yunnan |
marshes, wet ground beside streams in conifer forests |
yellow to orange – stems to 80 cm |
May to August |
P. cockburniana |
SW Sichuan |
marshy, alpine meadows |
dark orange tinged with red – stems to 40 cm |
June to August |
P. cooperi (?)
(only collected once) |
Sikkim (India) |
sandy stream sides and wet grassy slopes |
uniformly yellow flowers, aromatic leaves – stems to 30 cm |
June to August |
P. helodoxa
(Richards says it is a form of prolifera) |
NE Burma, NW Yunnan |
stream sides, damp alpine meadows |
bright golden-yellow, some farina on the scape, evergreen – stems to 100 to 120 cm |
June to August |
P. japonica |
all the main islands of Japan |
wet sites along mountain streams |
purplish-red flowers – stems to 45 cm
‘Postford White‘ – white with orange eye ‘Miller’ s Crimson’ – dark red with dark red eye ‘Valley Red’ – scarlet with an orange eye |
May to August
(in cultivation probably the first to flower) |
P. mallophylla
(never in cultivation) |
East and South Sichuan |
damp meadows and mountain stream sides |
deep yellow flowers – stems to 30 cm |
May to August |
P. melanodonta |
NE Burma, SE Tibet and northern India |
muddy alpine slopes and stream sides |
bright yellow flowers – stems to 25 cm |
June to August |
P. miyabeana |
Taiwan (Mt. Morrison) |
shady mountain woods |
purple flowers, farina in calyx is yellow – stems to 60 cm |
May to August |
P. morsheadiana
(Richards has moved this to Sikkimensis) |
SE Tibet |
grassy, stony, damp slopes |
golden-yellow flowers – stems to 24 cm
(according to Halda – no record of it in cultivation) |
June to August |
P. poissonii |
SW Sichuan, West Yunnan |
boggy, meadows |
deep, purple-crimson flowers with a yellow eye, evergreen – stems to 45 cm |
June to August |
P. polonensis |
Assam |
stream banks and wet rocks |
bright yellow flowers – stems to 35 cm |
June to August |
Name |
Origin |
Native growing conditions |
Brief Description |
Blooming time |
P. prenantha
(rare in cultivation) |
Bhutan, NE Burma, SE Tibet, Assam, Sikkim, East Nepal near Mt. Everest |
boggy slopes, wet meadows, moist gravel on cliffs |
brilliant chrome-yellow, cup-shaped flowers, probably the smallest primula in this section, evergreen – stem sto 15 cm |
May |
P. prolifera |
Bhutan, North Burma, South Yunnan, Assam, Sumatra, Java |
stream sides and marshy places |
pale to golden-yellow flowers, but also muddy violet, evergreen – stems to 60 cm |
May to August |
P. pulverulenta |
West Sichuan |
marshy slopes, stream banks |
carmen-red with dark purple eye, white farina on stems – stems to 100 cm |
May to August |
P. secundiflora
(only known hybrids with poissonii) |
NW Yunnan, SW Sichuan,
SE Tibet |
near glaciers on alpine meadows, swampy places on limestone and clay slate, near clumps of rhododendrons |
reddish purple or deep red flowers, evergreen, two whorls of pendant flowers, great variability in size depending on origin of parent – low-lying plants much bigger – stems 10 to 90 cm |
June to August |
P. serratifolia |
NE Burma, SE Tibet, Yunnan |
high damp mountain meadows
(difficult to establish in cultivation) |
large, yellow bell-shaped semi-pendant flowers, each petal lobe has a central bar of deep orange, evergreen – stems to 45 cm |
June to August |
P. smithiana
(Richards says it is a form of prolifera) |
Bhutan, SE Tibet |
wet meadows, stream banks |
pale yellow flowers – stems to 60cm |
June to July |
P. stenodonta (Could be a variety of poissonii or wilsonii)
|
NE Yunnan |
marshy meadows |
reddish-violet flowers – stems to 30 cm |
June to August |
P. wilsonii
|
Sichuan and Yunnan |
damp mountain meadows |
red to purple flowers, aromatic leaves – stems to 90 + cm |
June to August |
P. wilsonii var. anisodora |
Sichuan and Yunnan |
moist open pastures |
deep purple almost black flowers, aromatic leaves – stems to 60cm (Halda) |
June to August |
- The majority of this section is concentrated in the border region of Yunnan-Burma-Assam-Tibet, a zone of high monsoon rainfall and deep snow.
- Thirteen of 23 species grow in the region of the Salween, Mekong and Yangtse rivers.
- P. prolifera (the ones growing in Indonesia) and P. magellanica (Argentina) are probably the only Primula species which are native to the southern hemisphere.
- Pax called this section ‘Proliferae’ in 1889, but Balfour later named it ‘Candelabra’ because he thought Pax was disorganized, but we now refer to it as ‘Proliferae’, because out of 14 species Pax got 10 right; however, most of the species of Proliferae are still sold as ‘candelabra primroses’.
- It is thought that the species in section Proliferae represent the most primitive primulas. Most primulas can be shown to derive from Proliferae
- Many of these primulas are among the easiest to grow, soundly perennial, and fully hardy. They must never be allowed to dry out. Heat, drought, or dry, deep shade will kill them. They need acidic soil to thrive. They grow well with rhododendrons and other acid-loving shrubs or in bog and water gardens.
- Most will self-sow easily. Most are herbaceous and form almost inconspicuous buds at the soil level in winter.
- They benefit from a nutritious top dressing of mulch in winter.
- Seeds have only a short period of viability.