How do flies smell? Not as nice as these flowers I be bound!

This rock plant is a prostrate, evergreen perennial. The leaves are small, grey-green in appearance often enhanced by fine hairs. In spring  the scented, stemless flowers are buttercup-yellow which can smother the plant.

This fly found the scent on the open flowers much to his liking.

Naming The Plant

• Androsace vitaliana, may now be the official name although I still call it Vitaliana primulifolia.
• Historically it has been placed in various genera, including Androsace, Douglasia, Gregoria and Primula.
• The prickly-appearing foliage is certainly reminiscent of a Douglasia, although the flowers are primula-like.
• It is  a member of the primula family and was once known as the “Golden Primrose.”

Tips and Other Information

• Vitaliana is ideal for troughs, crevice gardens and the rockery.
• It is propagated by cutting as seed is hard to obtain from cultivated plants.
• Ottawa Valley Rock Garden Society has a good descriptive page on this worthwhile and hardy plant.
• In the wild it grows on volcanic scree in the Alps, Pyrenees and Dolomites.