Flora of North America species comparison

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Dodecatheon conjugens

Dodecatheon alpinum
Dodecatheon conjugens

Bonneville shooting star, desert shootingstar, slim-pod shooting star

alpine shooting star
Habit Plants 5–30(–40) cm; scape usually glabrous, sometimes glandular-puberulent proximally. Plants (8–)10–35(–45) cm; scape glabrous or nearly so.
Caudices

not obvious at anthesis;

roots whitish;

bulblets absent.

not obvious at anthesis or short and compact;

root whitish;

bulblets absent.
Leaves

3–13(–18) × 0.7–2.5(–4) cm;

petiole slender (at least proximally);

blade narrowly oblanceolate to spatulate or obovate, base usually not decurrent onto stem, usually abruptly tapering to petiole, margins entire, surfaces glabrous or glandular-puberulent.

2–20(–27) × (0.3–)0.5–2(–3.5) cm;

petiole winged;

blade linear to linear-oblanceolate, base decurrent onto stem, gradually tapering to petiole, margins entire or nearly so, surfaces glabrous.
Inflorescences

1–7(–10)-flowered;

bracts lanceolate to broadly lanceolate, 3–10 mm, glandular-puberulent.

1–10-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 3–10(–12) mm, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely glandular-puberulent.
Pedicels

1–5 cm, glabrous or glandular-puberulent.

(0.5–)1–5 cm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely glandular-pubescent.
Flowers

calyx light green to yellowish, sometimes finely purple-speckled or -dotted, 5–12 mm, glabrous or glandular-puberulent, tube 2–6 mm, lobes 5, 3–7 mm;

corolla tube yellowish with purplish red, thin, wavy ring, lobes 5, usually magenta, sometimes white, 7–25(–35) mm;

filaments usually distinct, yellowish or dark maroon, 0.5–1.5 mm, rarely partially connate and tube 0.5–1.5 × 1.5–5 mm;

anthers 5–9 mm;

pollen sacs usually maroon or yellow, sometimes yellowish and speckled maroon, rarely with reddish purple to purple speckles, connective usually maroon, sometimes yellowish or light blue to whitish, transversely rugose;

stigma not enlarged compared to style.

calyx greenish and finely purple-flecked, 5–9.5(–10) mm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely glandular-puberulent, tube 1–3(–4) mm, lobes 4, (2–)4–7(–8) mm;

corolla tube yellowish with purplish red, thin, wavy ring, lobes 4, usually magenta to lavender, rarely pink or white, (6–)8–20 mm;

filaments distinct, black, 0.2–0.5(–1) mm;

anthers 4.5–8.5 mm, (apex truncate to obtuse);

pollen sacs purple and often mottled, connective dark purple, transversely rugose;

stigma enlarged, diam. usually 2+ times style.
Capsules

tan, often striped with purple, usually operculate, rarely valvate, cylindric-ovoid, 8–17(–22) × 4–6(–8) mm, glabrous;

walls thin, pliable.

tan to light brown, often purplish toward apex, valvate, narrowly ovoid, 5–11(–12) × 3–7 mm, glabrous;

walls thin, pliable.
Seeds

without membrane along edges.

with membrane along edges.
2n

= 44.

= 44.

Dodecatheon conjugens

Dodecatheon alpinum
Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Moist to boggy meadows and stream banks, mainly in montane conifer woodlands
Elevation 1900-3500 m (6200-11500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AZ; CA; NV; OR; UT; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).

Both Dodecatheon conjugens and D. poeticum occur in proximity in the Columbia River gorge. Some specimens here assigned to var. conjugens may have scattered, minute glands on the pedicels that might indicate past hybridization with D. poeticum (e.g., G. N. Jones 6286, ORE; R. R. Halse 3790, OSC, WTU). Dodecatheon poeticum is densely glandular not only on the pedicels, but also on the calyx and scape. The type of minute glandular puberulence seen on var. conjugens found along the Columbia River west of The Dalles is somewhat similar to that seen on var. viscidum in western Montana and Canada. Some plants referred here to D. conjugens have slightly connate filaments that may indicate some intergradation with D. pulchellum var. pulchellum. This suggestion is supported by the tendency in the same plants to have narrower leaves.

Some newly emerged flowers tend to have connectives that are less rugose than normal. This is particularly true of some populations in southern Alberta and, to a lesser degree, in Saskatchewan.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Dodecatheon alpinum is found in widely scattered locations in the San Jacinto Mountains, Transverse Ranges, Sierra Nevada, northern coastal ranges, and the Siskiyou Mountains of California, southwestern Oregon, and west-central Nevada, and in the Cascade Ranges to just north of the Columbia River in Skamania and Yakima counties of Washington. It may be seen on scattered basin ranges in the Intermountain West of Nevada (e.g., East Humboldt, Jarbidge, Ruby, Snake) and western Utah (Deep Creek Mountains), and in some desert ranges of southern Oregon as far east as the Steens Mountains in Harney County; it is disjunct to the Blue and Wallowa mountains of northeastern Oregon. There are other disjunct populations in the northern Wasatch and Uinta mountains of northern and northeastern Utah, and even more widely scattered populations in the southern Wasatch and Tushar mountains. The species has also been found at Warm Springs in Millard County. Isolated populations occur on the Pine Valley Mountains, Utah, and around the Grand Canyon and Mogollon Rim areas of Arizona as far south as Greenlee County.

Narrow-leaved plants that are sparsely glandular-pubescent are sometimes found at higher elevations in the Sierra Nevada, making a distinction between Dodecatheon alpinum and D. jeffreyi occasionally arbitrary. A specimen from Deschutes County, Oregon (C. L. Hitchcock and J. S. Martin 4919, UTC, WTU) has leaf blades to 3.5 cm wide.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Leaf blades, scapes, and pedicels glabrous.
D. conjugens var. conjugens
1. Leaf blades, scapes proximally, and pedicels usually glandular-puberulent.
D. conjugens var. viscidum
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 271. FNA vol. 8, p. 277.
Parent taxa Primulaceae > Dodecatheon Primulaceae > Dodecatheon
Sibling taxa
D. alpinum, D. amethystinum, D. austrofrigidum, D. clevelandii, D. dentatum, D. ellisiae, D. frenchii, D. frigidum, D. hendersonii, D. jeffreyi, D. meadia, D. poeticum, D. pulchellum, D. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
D. amethystinum, D. austrofrigidum, D. clevelandii, D. conjugens, D. dentatum, D. ellisiae, D. frenchii, D. frigidum, D. hendersonii, D. jeffreyi, D. meadia, D. poeticum, D. pulchellum, D. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
Subordinate taxa
D. conjugens var. conjugens, D. conjugens var. viscidum
Synonyms Primula conjugens D. meadia var. alpinum, D. alpinum subsp. majus, D. tetrandrum, Primula tetrandra
Name authority Greene: Erythea 3: 40. (1895) (A. Gray) Greene: Erythea 3: 39. 1895 ,
Web links 
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Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



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