1976, Orchids Flowers.Primula denticulata 4 Bhutanese chhertum MN H

1976, Orchids Flowers.Primula denticulata  

Orchids Flowers.Primula denticulata 4 Bhutanese chhertum 1976 MNH

Text: .  Bhutan 4 ch
Condition: MN H

Title:   Orchid

Face value:     4 Ch

Country/area:            Bhutan

Year:   29-5-1976

Stamp number in set:           2

Basic colour:  Multi-coloured

Usage:            Franking

Type:   Stamp

Size:  42 x 30 mm

Theme:           Flowers, Flora, Orchids

Perforation:    K 15

Watermark:   Without watermark

Printing:         Offset   

Michel number:         672

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Species information

Scientific name: Primula denticulata Sm.

Common name(s): drumstick primula, tooth-leaved primula, purple Nepal cowslip

Conservation status: Not Evaluated according to IUCN Red List criteria.

Habitat: Open, wet places.

Key uses: Ornamental.

Known hazards: Many species of Primula, including P. denticulata, contain primin and other quinoid compounds which are contact allergens.

About this species

Most of the primulas from China and the Himalaya now in cultivation were introduced in the 20th century, but a few found their way into European gardens in the 19th century, particularly species from the western and central Himalaya. Early collectors in this area included Joseph Hooker,Nathaniel Wallich and John Forbes Royle, who introduced seed of the drumstick primula,Primula denticulata.

James Edward Smith, a friend of Sir Joseph Banks and founder of the Linnean Society, described P. denticulata in the second volume of Exotic Botany, from a drawing made in India. Smith reports that this species was collected by Dr Francis Buchanan, ‘in moist parts of the hills about Chitlong’, in Nepal, where they flowered from February to April. It was some years later that seed of P. denticulata reached Britain, and was introduced into cultivation in 1842 by Messrs Veitch, who ran one of the largest plant nurseries in Europe.

The drumstick primula is the most common Himalayan Primula and by far the most widely cultivated of the species of primula grouped in section Denticulata.

Primula denticulata is a perennial, deciduous, clump-forming plant with compact heads of many flowers, and overwinters as large, above-ground buds with thick roots.

The winter buds of P. denticulata are surrounded by large, leathery scales. In spring and summer, the oblong, wrinkly leaves can grow up to 30 cm long and have a toothed margin. The spherical flower head is held on a stem up to 30 cm tall, is up to 8 cm across and composed of usually stalk less flowers. Flower colour varies from deep purple or blue, to pink or white but the normal colour is pinkish-purple or lilac, with a yellowish eye.

Primula denticulata subsp. sinodenticulata, from north Burma and west China, is a robust plant with an elongated flower stem, up to six times the length of its leaves.

The closely related species P. cachemeriana (syn. P. denticulata var. cachemeriana), from Kashmir, is sometimes seen in cultivation but it is not widely grown. It differs from P. denticulata in its pointed, yellow-mealy (with a powdery coating) resting bud and the narrow, very mealy leaves, which remain smooth until after the plant has flowered. Some authors classify this as a form of P. denticulata but Professor John Richards, a former chairman of the Alpine Garden Society and author of the monograph Primula, retains it as a separate species