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 elatior is the oxlip, which bears upright stems with clusters of flowers, rather smaller than those of the primrose, and of a similar pale yellow. This is a collection from pine woods in the Alps.