Wikipedia Article About English primroses on Wikipedia Primula vulgaris is a species of Primula native to western and southern Europe, including the British Isles. The common name is Primrose, Common Primrose or English Primrose. It is one of the earliest spring flowers, and in appropriate conditions, it can cover the ground in open woods. In more populated areas it has suffered from over-collection and theft so that few natural displays of primroses in abundance can be found. Picking of primroses or the removal of primrose plants from the wild without the permission of the owner of the land on which they are growing is now illegal in the UK (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, Section 13, part 1b)