In 1665, John Rea stated 'Bears Ears are nobler kinds of Cowslips, and now much esteemed, in respect of the many excellent varieties thereof of late years discovered, differing in the size, fashion, and colour of the green leaves, as well as flower'. Garden auriculas ( Primula x pubescens) are the products of hybridisation between Primula auricula and Primula hirsuta, a Pyrenean and Alpine species, and generations of artificial selection by dedicated gardeners. By 1658, the Garden boasted nine bear's ears which ranged in colour from tawny through yellow and scarlet to purple and violet. In 1648, Oxford Botanic Garden was growing a purple bear's ear and a purple-striped bear's ear. The northern populations are Primula auricula in the strict sense, whilst the other populations are now called Primula lutea.īear's ears were first introduced to British gardeners in the sixteenth century. However, detailed genetic analyses across the species' range have shown populations from the south and east are distinct from those in the north. Under the traditional concept of Primula auricula, the species is distributed from the Alps, through the Apennines and Carpathians into the Balkans, and north into southern Germany and the Tatra mountains. Both the common name and the species epithet refer to the distinctive shape of the leaves.
Primula auricula, the mountain cowslip, is a characteristic, spring-flowering alpine of base-rich European mountains.
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