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Perennial of the Primulaceae family, endemic to the mountains of Afghanistan, where it grows in the crevices of rocky cliffs and on shaded to semi-shaded limestone walls, at high altitude, between approximately 2,500 and 3,500 meters. It belongs to a genus of about fifty species confined to the mountain ranges of Central Asia and the Middle East.
It forms tiny dense and compact cushions, composed of tight rosettes of very small rounded, glandular leaves, bright green to yellow-green on young shoots, bordered with reddish-brown on older leaves. Even a still juvenile plant, barely a few millimeters, is capable of producing a flower — a remarkable fact that illustrates the floral energy characteristic of the genus Dionysia.
The flowers are solitary, borne on a slender and translucent peduncle well above the cushion, with five slightly notched petals, a bright lilac-pink, with a central burgundy-purple eye surrounded by yellow. The contrast between the flower and the tiny green cushion is striking.
In its natural habitat, flowering extends from May to June depending on the altitude.
Demanding cultivation, reserved for specialists: very well-drained, mineral, calcareous substrate, dry between waterings, absolutely sheltered from stagnant winter humidity. Cultivation in a pot under a cold frame or in a cold alpine greenhouse is the safest way to bring this species to maturity.