Primula veris (cowslip, "Kibananokurinzakura")

Japanese name: キバナノクリンザクラ （黄花九輪桜）
Scientific name: Primula veris

[Overview]
A perennial 15–25 cm tall.
It has a short, thick rhizome.
Leaves are simple and basal, elliptic to lanceolate, 5–15 cm long and 2–6 cm wide.
The upper surface of the leaf is much wrinkled, and the underside is hairy.
The leaf margin has teeth.
An umbel at the tip of the flower stalk bears 10–30 yellow flowers.
The corolla is 1–1.5 cm across and 5-lobed, with each lobe further divided in two at the tip.
The flowers are fragrant.
The fruit is a capsule.

[Uses]
The roots and rhizome are used medicinally.
The flowers are used in salads or candied in sugar, and also to flavor wine and other drinks.
The leaves are used in salads and herbal tea.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed or by division.
It prefers sun to partial shade and fertile soil that is well drained and retains water well.
Rain damages the flowers while in bloom, so it is good to provide protection from rain.
Water thoroughly when the soil surface begins to dry.
Apply a slow-release fertilizer rich in phosphorus and potassium as base fertilizer, and apply diluted liquid fertilizer once every 2 weeks to 1 month during the flowering period.
If you do not intend to collect seed, cut off the flowers together with their stalks once they finish blooming so as not to tire the plant.
Pests and diseases include damping-off, botrytis, soft rot, gray mold, cutworms, slugs and nematodes.

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