Plants to look for in February — Primrose
Photo credit: Tamsin Bent
Where to look
Woodland, hedges and grassland.
Description
Primrose flowers contain both male and female parts. But there are two different forms of flower, first described by Charles Darwin. The first type is ‘Pin–eyed’, where the stigma (female part) sticks out, while the anthers (male part) are hidden. While in the second type ‘Thrum – eyed,’ they are the opposite way round. This helps create greater genetic diversity as it is thought to encourage cross fertilisation. Primroses also have a ‘self-incompatability’ mechanism that stops the eggs being fertilised by its own pollen.
Spottings
Louie
Tamsin
Stanley
“We saw some with only leaves and some with flowers. Some of them were open and some of them were closed. The flowers were pink and yellow.”
All of us
Jo
Gavin
“Spotted in Polzeath, Cornwall.”
ELLA
Daisy
“I found this just down my road!”
Tamsin
Edie
“On the path to school”
Tamsin B
Lotta
Robin Layfield
“Saw these out the back”
Where we've found Primroses
Primrose spottings journal (16 seen)
| Last seen | Location | Spotted by | Group | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Feb 2024 | Stroud Valleys Project | |||
| 22 Mar 2023 | Stroud Valleys Project | |||
| 15 Mar 2022 | Stroud Valleys Project | |||
| 14 Feb 2022 | Stonehouse | Louie | Foxmoor Primary | |
| 4 Feb 2021 | Randwick | Tamsin | Stroud Valleys Project | |
| 1 Feb 2021 | Stroud Cemetery | Stanley | Brimacombes | We saw some with only leaves and some with flowers. Some of them were open and some of them were closed. The flowers were pink and yellow. |
| 15 Apr 2020 | On our drive | All of us | Buckley-Nolans | |
| 7 Apr 2020 | Minchinhampton Common | Jo | The Weaver's | |
| 28 Mar 2020 | Polzeath, Cornwall. | Gavin | Blended | Spotted in Polzeath, Cornwall. |
| 27 Mar 2020 | common | ELLA | The Weaver's | |
| 15 Mar 2020 | St Columb Major | Daisy | Blended | I found this just down my road! |
| 12 Mar 2020 | Tamsin | Blended | ||
| 12 Mar 2020 | Middle Spillman's | Edie | Leafgatherers | On the path to school |
| 2 Mar 2020 | Tamsin B | Stroud Valleys Project | ||
| 27 Feb 2020 | Capel's mill | Lotta | Stroud Valley Community School | |
| 27 Feb 2020 | Bath Road, Rodborough | Robin Layfield | Leafgatherers | Saw these out the back |
← OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR THIS MONTH
