Primrose Plant

Primrose Plant: Traditions and Beliefs

The primrose plant is a harbinger of spring, flinging wide the doors to long-awaited warmth and bright sunlight. With this flower’s appearance, winter cold makes its final exit, and people’s hearts fill with joy and the anticipation of an imminent meeting with summer.

The name “primula” is derived from the Latin word primus, meaning “first” or “early.” Nearly every culture makes mention of it somewhere. The ancient Greeks named the primrose plant “dodecatheon”: literally “flower of the 12 gods.” They believed that primrose to be favored with great healing power, able to conquer many fearsome diseases that did not respond to other herbs, one of which was paralysis. It was said that the gods, observing a certain unlucky youth dying in great pain from paralysis, created from his tortured body the primrose as a cure people might use against this illness. This was why doctors called the primrose plant “herba paralisis arthrica,”and prescribed it in the treatment of paralysis.

Ancient residents of Europe, primarily the Germans and their Scandinavian neighbors to the north, believed that primrose flowers were the keys used by Freya, the powerful goddess of love, happiness, and fertility, to open the gates for spring. Freya wore a rainbow-shaped necklace forged by skilled dwarf craftsmen. When Freya floated over the world, her jewelry would catch on forests, fields, and hills. Wherever the bright rays of the rainbow fell on the cold ground, primroses would bloom. The use of the name Schlusselblume, or “key-flower”, for the primrose comes down to us from those times. However, there is also a version of the story that says the name is derived from the flowers’ resemblance to church keys hanging in a bunch.

The primrose is believed to be a magical flower. The Germans thought that the first girl to find a primrose on Easter would marry that year. Celtic Druidic priests knew how to brew a love potion from its juice that was very popular during the Middle Ages. Similar drugs were found in Antiquity. It so happened that a certain Roman writer by the name of Lucius Apuleius married a rich, old widow who was already 60 years old. The widow’s relatives, having lost their inheritance, were unhappy with the state of affairs, and accused Apuleius of dabbling in love sorcery. What is more, the widow, herself, confirmed that he had bewitched her with some kind of potion. However, in court Apuleius made such an impassioned speech that he was acquitted and won the case. His “Apologia, or Speech in Defense of Myself Against Charges of Magic” has gone down in history as an exemplary work of oratory art.

In other countries, for example, Switzerland or Belarus, the primrose plant was a well-guarded talisman that was thought to protect people from unclean spirits. In Russia, the primrose was believed to mark the location of hidden treasures. Because of this, it was sometimes called “razryv trava,” meaning “breaking grass”.

The English developed a special relationship with the primrose. In the tales mothers told their children long ago, primroses were often said to be the little houses of tiny fairies and dwarves. If a dwarf were caught on the road in the rain, he would look for a primrose to hide in. To keep from being bored, he would sing a little song. For Englishmen far from home, primroses were the flowers that reminded them of their native land. Therefore, each Englishman considered it his duty to grow these flowers in whatever part of the world fate had flung him. Lord Beaconsfield was a great admirer of the primrose. At any time of year, be it summer or winter, one could always find him with a primrose in his buttonhole.

P. auricula plant became fashionable at the start of the nineteenth century. This variety was distinguished by its ability to secrete a whitish fuzz that would scatter with the slightest breath of wind. Because of this, they were called “Louis XIV’s courtiers.” During the reign of this king, all notable people had to wear strongly powdered wigs, which served as the basis for such a playful name. Few were able to own these flowers: they were enormously expensive, and beyond the means of ordinary gardeners.

The primrose plant has not been lost to the modern world; it remains one of the most popular flowers.

Facts about the Primrose Plant

• Primrose plant is used in food. All kinds of beverages and teas are made from dried plants, its young leaves work beautifully in spring salads, and relishes can be made from its roots.
• Vulcanologists have discovered the most interesting and vitally important use for the primrose. Specialists have observed that certain primroses open up their petals as if by command before a volcanic eruption. It is as if they were signaling: “Danger! The volcano has awakened!”

Primrose Plant: Legends

There is an amusing legend concerning the primrose plant. One day the apostle Paul, the heavenly doorkeeper who mans the gates of Heaven, was very tired and dozed off. He didn’t notice when his keys slipped from his hands and flew down to Earth. Upon waking a little later, he saw that his gold keys were lying on the ground, and immediately sent an angel after them. The angel brought them back, but in the place where the heavenly keys had rested, there were now primroses growing.

Here is another legend that was told in Greece. There once lived a young man who wished to learn everything there was to know. Painstakingly, step by step, he studied the mysteries of nature, laboring to comprehend the structures of the land, water, and living things that make up our world. A time came when Earth held no more secrets for him. He knew more than all the wise men of the world together. So he looked into the sky and saw the stars, of which he knew nothing. He resolved to travel directly to them. But in order to do this, he must forge golden keys to open the gates of heaven. When the youth had finished making them, he climbed to the highest mountain and began his ascent to the center of the Universe. He rose higher and higher, and the stars whispered to him: “You must forget everything! You will never see the Earth again! You must forget your mother!” The young man could endure this no longer, and fell from the heavenly road. When he regained consciousness, he saw that he was lying in a forest glade, and in his hand he held, instead of a golden key, a crushed flower that he did not recognize. This was the primrose plant.