Horticultural cultivar of the Primula x pubescens group, an alpine-origin hybrid resulting from the cross between Primula auricula and Primula hirsuta, family Primulaceae. Like the entire group, its horticultural origins date back to European selections made from alpine species, cultivated and crossed for several centuries.
'Doublet' is a compact perennial forming a neat rosette, reaching 10 to 15 cm in height when in flower. The foliage is fleshy, light to medium green, slightly farinaceous, with a finely wavy margin, clearly visible in the photos.
What immediately distinguishes this cultivar within the group is its full or semi-double flower, an exceptional characteristic in Primula x pubescens. The petals, of a deep and velvety purple-violet, are multiplied and overlap in several tight rows around a pale yellow to cream eye, creating a dense and complex flower that evokes more of a small miniature peony than a classic primrose. The buds, almost black before anthesis, gradually open revealing this unusual architecture. In cultivation, flowering occurs in April-May.
Like all double-flowered cultivars, 'Doublet' requires special attention to cultivation in pots or under cold shelter, in a very well-drained substrate, protected from prolonged winter humidity. Its propagation is exclusively by division, as the double flower does not produce viable seeds.