| the plant family Primulaceae, characterized by herbaceous plants having simple, opposite, whorled, or basal leaves, flowers with a five-lobed corolla, and capsular fruit, and including cyclamen, loosestrife of the genus Lysimachia, pimpernel, primrose, and shooting star. |
primrose family
the primrose family, of the order Ericales, containing 28 genera of herbaceous flowering plants. Although worldwide in distribution, most species grow in temperate and colder regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and many are Arctic or Alpine. These annual or perennial herbs have simple leaves, often with a toothed margin; their flowers are borne in groups on leafless stalks and have a tube with spreading lobes, the stamens being attached to the tube. The fruits are capsules.
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