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Dodecatheon conjugens

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

French's shootingstar

Habit Plants 5–30(–40) cm; scape usually glabrous, sometimes glandular-puberulent proximally. Plants 20–40(–60) cm; scape glabrous, rarely glandular-pubescent.
Caudices

not obvious at anthesis;

roots whitish;

bulblets absent.

not obvious at anthesis;

roots white;

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.

10–30 × 4–8(–10) cm;

petiole slender (at least basally);

blade (not suffused with red at base), spatulate to ovate or broadly oval, base slightly decurrent onto stem, abruptly tapering to petiole, margins usually entire, surfaces usually glabrous, rarely minutely glandular.

Inflorescences

1–7(–10)-flowered;

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

2–15-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 3–10 mm, glabrous, rarely glandular-pubescent.

Pedicels

1–5 cm, glabrous or glandular-puberulent.

1–5 cm, usually glabrous, rarely 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 light green, 3–8 mm, glabrous, tube 2–2.5 mm, lobes 5, 3–6 mm;

corolla tube maroon and yellow with maroon, thin, wavy ring, lobes 5, white, sometimes pale rose or lavender to (rarely) magenta, 10–20 mm;

filaments distinct and 0.8–1.2 mm or connate and tube yellow, 0.8–1.2 × 1.2–1.8 mm;

anthers 5–7.5 mm;

pollen sacs yellow, rarely speckled with red or maroon, connective purple, dark maroon, or black, smooth;

stigma not enlarged compared to style.

Capsules

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

walls thin, pliable.

reddish brown, valvate, cylindric-ovoid, 6–10 × 3.5–5 mm, glabrous;

walls thick, firm.

Seeds

without membrane along edges.

without membrane along edges.

2n

= 44.

= 44.

Dodecatheon conjugens

Dodecatheon frenchii

Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Moist, shaded flats under sandstone cliffs and overhanging ledges along or near streams
Elevation 100-300 m (300-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; ID; MT; NV; OR; WA; WY; AB; BC; SK
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AL; AR; IL; IN; KY; MO
[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 frenchii is relatively rare throughout its restricted range in southern Illinois (Jackson, Johnson, Pope, Saline, Union, and Williamson counties), southern Indiana (Crawford and Perry counties), and western Kentucky (Breckinridge, Carter, Crittenden, Edmonson, Hardin, Menifee, Todd, Union, and Warren counties), with additional outlying populations in Colbert County, Alabama, Cleburne and Newton counties, Arkansas, and at Hickory Canyons Natural Area in Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. The mature leaves nearly always have a distinctive cordate base.

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

Key
1. Leaf blades, scapes, and pedicels glabrous.
var. conjugens
1. Leaf blades, scapes proximally, and pedicels usually glandular-puberulent.
var. viscidum
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 271. FNA vol. 8, p. 285.
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. alpinum, D. amethystinum, D. austrofrigidum, D. clevelandii, D. conjugens, D. dentatum, D. ellisiae, 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. frenchii, D. meadia subsp. membranaceum, Primula frenchii
Name authority Greene: Erythea 3: 40. (1895) (Vasey) Rydberg: Fl. Plains N. Amer., 626. 1932 ,
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