Primula scotica has two flowering periods: one in the early spring when a few plants come into flower and a main season in July/August when most are in flower. We visited it in June which is the perfect month for seeing nothing except rosettes. However at Strathay point, which is the most often quoted site for this endemic species, there are thousands of plants growing in the short turf so there was always a chance of one or two very late flowering individuals.

We hunted for ages before finding a slope which faced the sea where one or two plants were still flowering and had one, or in this case nearly three, florets. I hope to return one day in the main season to take a better picture of this delightful Northern plant. In fact it loves the North coast so much that it isn't found much further south than Wick. Inverness for example is a Southern hot spot as far as Primula scotica is concerned and you really will only find it in numbers on the North coast.

Stace describes ways in which it differs from Primula farinosa (Bird's-eye Primrose) another plant which has a very restricted range. To me they look nothing like each other.