Sierra Primrose
Primula Suffrutescens, Gray. Primrose Family
Leaves.—Wedge-shaped, an inch or so long; clustered at the ends of the branches. Flower-stems.—Several inches high. Umbel several-flowered. Calyx.—Five-cleft. Corolla.—Salver-shaped; an inch or less across; deep rose-color, with a yellow eye. Stamens.—High on the corolla-throat opposite its lobes. Ovary.—One-celled. Style slender. Hab.—The Sierras.
If one takes his alpenstock in hand and climbs to the snow line in late summer, he is apt to be rewarded by the charming flowers of the Sierra primrose. The little plants grow in the drip of the snow-banks, where the melting ice gradually liberates the tufts of evergreen leaves. The glowing flowers look as though they might have caught and held the last rosy reflection of the sunset upon the snow above them.