vitaliana

Androsace vitaliana is a cushion- or mat-forming plant reaching up to 15 cm (6 in) or more across. Its leaves are arranged in rosettes, each leaf being 5–10 mm (0.2–0.4 in) long and usually greyish green in colour. The flowers are usually unstalked (sessile) and are bright yellow in colour. They consist of a tube about 1–1.5 cm (0.4–0.6 in) or more long with five lobes reaching 1–2 cm (0.4–0.8 in) across when fully open. The flowers are borne singly at the ends of the leaf rosettes. Like the genus Primula, flowers are heterostylous, having pin and thrum forms.

Androsace vitaliana is native to the high mountains of Europe in Spain, France, Italy, Switzerland and a small part of Austria. It is usually found above 2,000 m (6,600 ft), on screes and rocks and in stony meadows.

Androsace vitaliana is cultivated as an alpine garden plant. It is regarded as easy to grow in well drained but fertile soil in a sunny position. It can be propagated easily by removing rosettes with attached roots from a plant in late summer and growing them on.