The Vernales section of primulas, correctly called section Primula, includes our beloved primrose, cowslip and oxlip, which are usually, but not always, pale yellow. There are also some bright pink species from further afield - not to mention the polyanthus hybrids, with appallingly vivid colours, fortunately kept away from us in municipal plantings in the middles of roundabouts.

Primula veris is the cowslip, an old-time favourite, found decreasingly in meadows, in the shelter of hedges and at woodland edges, but increasingly on motorway embankments. The flowers, several to each stem, are smaller and richer yellow than those of the primrose, but backed by pale green calyces and stems, so the appearance from a distance is of a pale yellow.