Soldanella

a genus of perennial herbs of the family Primulaceae. The reniform or rounded leaves are in basal rosettes. The pentamerous, drooping flowers are for the most part light blue or lilac; they are gathered in an umbelled inflorescence or, less commonly, are solitary. The corolla is companulate, and the fruit is a capsule. There are about ten species, which are distributed in the mountains of middle and southern Europe. Flowering occurs inearly spring. The USSR has two species, growing in the Carpathians. S. montana grows in subalpine and alpine meadows and in the upper part of the forest zone (in damp coniferous forests, along forest edges, and amid shrubbery). Some species, including 5. alpina, S. minima, and S. montana, are cultivated as ornamentals in rock gardens.