THE common plant-name ‘primrose’ is derived from the Latin ‘prima rosa’ – meaning the ‘first rose’.
Appearing as early as December and lasting right through the spring until May, it is a tough little perennial that can cope with most habitats.
While it often appears in open woods and shaded hedgerows, it favours damp ground (particularly alongside running streams).
You will also see patches of it in meadows and it was once so prolific in those areas that it was also known as the field primrose.
Sometimes it even lent its name to parcels of agricultural land and the 1843 Tithe Award for Maldon reveals one such example.