Greek meaning delightful.
Creeping or upright herbs. Leaves opposite, alternate or in whorls, entire. Flowers generally solitary and long-stalked in the leaf axils. Calyx of 5 parts with spreading lobes. Petals 5, wheel-like to bell-shaped. Stamens 5 joined to the base of the petals, mostly hairy; spring. Fruit a capsule opening by a lid; seeds numerous.
Known through the scarlet-flowered and widespread weed Anagallis arvensis L., Scarlet Pimpernel or Poor Man's Weatherglass (the flowers close before bad weather).
The single weedy species is a small annual plant with 4-angled stems and scarlet flower on long stalks.
About 30 species from S America, S Africa and Europe.
Source: (1997). Primulaceae. In: . Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 2. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 1. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.
