Primula deorum is a flowering

Flowering plant

The flowering plants , also known as Angiospermae or Magnoliophyta, are the most diverse group of land plants. Angiosperms are seed-producing plants like the gymnosperms and can be distinguished from the gymnosperms by a series of synapomorphies...

 dicot plant of the genus Primula

Primula

Primula is a genus of 400–500 species of low-growing herbs in the family Primulaceae. They include primrose, auricula, cowslip and oxlip. Many species are grown for their ornamental flowers...

in the primulaceae

Primrose

-Botany:* Primulaceae, a family of flowering plants* Primula vulgaris, commonly known as the Primrose * Oenothera, commonly known as Evening Primrose, a plant genus...

 family. This alpine plant is endemic to roughly 63 km² above the tree-line

Tree-line

The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. Beyond the tree line, they are unable to grow because of inappropriate environmental conditions...

 (especially around 2200 meters) in the Rila

Rila

Rila is a mountain range in southwestern Bulgaria and the highest mountain range of Bulgaria and the Balkans, with its highest peak being Musala at 2,925 m...

 mountains in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

, where it grows in small groups in acid, boggy soil near streams and pools and in boggy soil. Its elongate green leaves form rosette

Rosette (botany)

In botany, a rosette is a circular arrangement of leaves, with all the leaves at a single height.Though rosettes usually sit near the soil, their structure is an example of a modified stem.-Function:...

s. The blooms are red-purple, borne in asymmetrical umbel

Umbel

An umbel is an inflorescence which consists of a number of short flower stalks which are equal in length and spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs....

s high above the leaves. This plant has survived the last glacial period as a relict

Relict

A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon.* In biology a relict is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas....

 organism.

It is sometimes offered as an ornamental

Ornamental plant

Ornamental plants are plants that are grown for decorative purposes in gardens and landscape design projects, as house plants, for cut flowers and specimen display...

, but is difficult to cause to flower. The best success comes from a well-aerated, wet medium consisting partly or entirely of sphagnum

Sphagnum

Sphagnum is a genus of between 151 and 350 species of mosses commonly called peat moss, due to its prevalence in peat bogs and mires. A distinction is made between sphagnum moss, the live moss growing on top of a peat bog on one hand, and sphagnum peat moss or sphagnum peat on the other, the...

; flowing water is advisable.

The name "God's Cowslip" and the species epithet deorum refer to the presence of this species on Musala

Musala

Musala is the highest peak in Bulgaria and the entire Balkan Peninsula, standing at 2,925 m . The summit of the Rila mountain in southwestern Bulgaria, Musala is the highest peak between the Alps and the Caucasus and the highest in Eastern Europe bar the Caucasus.Between 1949–1962 the peak was...

, "God's Mountain", though it is much more common above Malyovitsa

Malyovitsa

Malyovitsa is a peak and ski resort in the northwestern part of the Rila Mountains in southwestern Bulgaria. It is 2,729 m high and is one of the most popular tourist regions in the mountain. The Rila Monastery is situated at its southern foot, and Malyovitsa Ski Centre — with two downhill...

, where it is the dominant plant in suitable spots.