See also Primrose, Primula sp.; Auricula, P. auricula; Cowslip, P. veris; and Polyanthus, Primula × polyantha.

☙ Oxlip

Primula elatior Hill. (1765) WFO LB JCN HNE

 =Primula veris var. elatior L. (1753). WFO LB

Period English: oxlip; jagging oxlip. LB

Period French: Formal: primevère élevée f. ('elevated primrose'). LB Colloquial: brayes de coucou ?; LB pain de coucou m. ('cuckoo bread'). LB

Elizabethian English: Field Oxlips (Gerard 1597, 1568). HNE

Stuart English: Arthetiques; Cowslips or Oxlips. (Cotgrave 1611). HNE

Sentiments:

🏶︎ Speak out ▲︎ (1884). CMK

Region:

Native: Continental Europe, excluding Ireland, Portugal, Norway, Finland, and Mediterranean islands, west to Poland, Belarus, Eastern Russia (Pskov Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, Novgorod Oblast, and St Petersberg), Ukraine, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan; and Asia Temperate, in Kazakhstan, north following Samara Oblast, the Republic of Tatarstan, the Mari El Republic, Kirov Oblast, Perm Krai, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, islands in the Kara Sea, and following the north coast down the western border of Krasnoyarsk Krai, Irkutsk Oblast, Buryatia, and the southern border of the Tuva Republic and Altai Republic.WFO

Introduced: Finland and Norway.WFO

Seasonality: Semi-evergreen perennial flowering in early spring.

Period Colours:

🏶︎ [...] flowers of a pale yellow [...] - J.C. Niven, The Garden, 29 January (1876) p.102 Read Here.

Calendar: TBC.

Heraldry: TBC.

Cultural and Religious: TBC.

Cited Verse:

❧ 'I know a bank where the wild thyme blows, / Where oxlips and the nodding violet grows.', ◆︎ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night's Dream (c.1595) 2.1.249; HNE

❧ 'Bold oxlips, and / the crown imperial.', ◆︎ William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale (c.1610) 4.4.125; HNE

❧ 'Oxlips in their cradles growing.', ◆︎ William Shakespeare, Two Noble Kinsmen (c.1614) Intro. song. HNE

Other Verse: TBC.

Notes

🜱 On identification of 'oxlip': Ellacombe notes regarding P. elatior in specific:

It is a handsome plant, but it is probably not the "bold Oxlip" of Shakespeare, or the plant which is such a favourite in cottage gardens. The true Oxlip (P. elatior of Jacquin) is an eastern counties' plant; while the common forms of the Oxlip are hybrids between the Cowslip and Primrose. (192)

He does not clarify beyond this.



La Flore de la Manche

◼︎ Léon Besnou, 1881

G. Primula L. — Primevère.


De Primus, premier, et Ver, veris, printemps; première fleur du printemps.


P. OFFICINALIS Jacq. — P. OFFICINALE (P. veris L. — Var. inflata Bot. Cap. odorata C. B. P. — Suaveolens Bartol.) (Brairelle, brayette, coucou, fleur de coucou, coqueluchons, herbe St-Paul, St-Pierre, à la paralysie, pâquette, printanière.) Angl. Common cowslip. All. Schlussel-blume. Ital. Prima vera. — Viv. — Mars-mai. Prés, pelouses. RRR. Cherbourg, le Roule, Tourlaville, la Pierre-Buttée, Octeville, St-Sauveur, St-Lo, bords de la Vire, St-Sénier-sous-Avranches, Apilly, Les Biards, environs du vieux château, Macey, pelouses du château, Beauficel, St-James, la Palluelle, Thorigny, près le château, Les Chambres, la Baudonière, Subligny, près le bourg et la maison Bourgeois.


P. GRANDIFLORA Lamk. — P. A GRANDES FLEURS. ( P. Acaulis Jacq. — Vulgaris Huds. — Brevistyla Dc. Ver. Var. L.) Pommerole, Prumerolle, Promenolle, Pruniole, Printemps, fièvre, Suzannes, Dénuite. Angl. Primrose. Bret. Bleun-Nevez. — Viv. — Mars-juin. Haies, bois, prés, coteaux. TC.

Var. P. acaulis caulescens. Lebel. Lestre. St-Senier-sous-Avranches. RR.

Varie depuis le blanc (St-Oven) au rose et pourpre (Baffé).


P. GRANDIFLORA-OFFICINALIS Goup. — P. A GRANDES FLEURS ET OFFICINALE. (P. Variabilis Goup et Lebel). — Viv. — Mars-juin. RRR. Lestre, St-Senier-sous-Avranches, Apilly, sentier du château, Macey, bois et pelouses du château, Valognes, environs.


P. ELATIOR Jacq. — P. ÉLEVÉE. (P. veris. — Var. elatior L.) Brayes de coucou, pain de coucou. Angl. Jagging oxlip. — Viv. — Mars-juin. Prés ombragés. RRRR. St-Senier-sous-Avranches, Apilly.

Plantes d'ornement; doublant facilement par la culture, et variant de couleur et de madrure; sans usage médicinal.

Les feuilles et les fleurs sont mucilagineuses et béchiques.


(250-251)





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Cite this page (MLA 9th): Never Never. “Oxlip.” Glossa Hortensia, 18 Mar. 2025, neverxnever.neocities.org/glossahortensia/primula_elatior. Accessed [DD Mon. YYYY].