Yellow spring flowers

This low growing spring plant is often found on sunny banks in short grass. The pale yellow flowers are about 3cm across with a darker yellow centre.

Primroses are common in Sussex and across the UK and can often be spotted in March and April. We often spot them by the side of country lanes when we’re in Battle in particular.

The first flowers of spring

The name Primrose originates from the terms Prim meaning first and the flower Rose.

Two types of primrose

The flowers are well documented as having two types of structure: pin or thrum. If you look inside a flower there will be either anthers (which hold pollen) visible, or there will be a flattened structure that looks like the head of a pin. When the pin structure is visible, it means that the anthers are held lower down inside the flower. Apparently this is an adaptation to promote cross-polination.

Hopefully you can see the difference between the two types of flower in the pics below.

Blog posts mentioning Primrose – Primula vulgaris are tagged Primrose

https://photographingwildflowers.co.uk/tag/primrose/