Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Dodecatheon poeticum

Dodecatheon pulchellum

narcissus shooting star, poet's shooting star

darkthroat shooting star, few-flower shootingstar
Habit Plants 10–45 cm; scape glandular-pubescent. Plants (2–)10–45(–60) cm; scape usually glabrous, sometimes glandular-pubescent or -puberulent.
Caudices

not obvious at anthesis;

roots white;

bulblets usually present.

not obvious at anthesis;

roots white;

bulblets absent.
Leaves

(3–)5–16(–20) × 0.5–2.5(–3) cm;

petiole usually winged;

blade oblanceolate to spatulate, base usually decurrent onto stem, gradually tapering to petiole, margins usually entire, sometimes denticulate to slightly toothed, surfaces glandular-pubescent.

(2–)4–25(–48) × 0.3–6(–8.5) cm;

petiole ± winged, sometimes wingless near base;

blade oblanceolate to spatulate or ovate to nearly oval, base decurrent onto stem, usually gradually tapering to petiole, margins usually entire, rarely slightly toothed, sometimes undulate, surfaces glabrous or glandular-pubescent.
Inflorescences

2–10(–17)-flowered;

bracts narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2–10 mm, glandular-pubescent.

2–15(–22)-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 2–15 mm, glabrous or glandular-pubescent or -puberulent.
Pedicels

1–3.5 cm, glandular-pubescent.

(0.7–)1–5(–7) cm, glabrous or glandular-pubescent or -puberulent.
Flowers

calyx greenish, often with pinkish purple to purple speckles, 5–9 mm, glabrous or slightly glandular at least along margins, tube 2–4(–5) mm, lobes 5, 3–5 mm;

corolla tube maroon and yellow with reddish, thin, wavy ring, lobes 5, magenta to lavender, (8–)10–15(–18) mm;

filaments connate, tube maroon, 1.5–3 × 2–3 mm;

anthers 4–7 mm;

pollen sacs maroon to black, connective deep purple to black, transversely rugose (sometimes seemingly smooth [when immature] or transversely wrinkled [when dried]);

stigma not enlarged compared to style.

calyx green, usually purple-flecked, 4–8 mm, glabrous or glandular-pubescent or -puberulent, tube 1.5–4 mm, lobes 5, 1–6 mm;

corolla tube maroon or yellow (fading to white) with reddish to magenta, thin, wavy ring, ring rarely absent, lobes 5, usually magenta to lavender, rarely white, (5–)7–20 mm;

filaments connate, tube yellow or maroon to dark purple or black, 0.7–3.6 × 1–3 mm;

anthers 3–8.5 mm;

pollen sacs dark maroon to black (at least apically) or yellow (at least apically), usually with some pink, reddish, or maroon speckles or lines dorsally, connective maroon to black or yellow, smooth or longitudinally wrinkled;

stigma not enlarged compared to style.
Capsules

tan, often faintly reddish apically, valvate, short-ovoid, 6–9 × 4–7 mm, glandular-pubescent;

walls usually thick and firm.

tan to light brown, often reddish brown apically, sometimes speckled with red or maroon, valvate, cylindric-ovoid, 5–14(–20) × 3–5(–7) mm, glabrous or glandular-pubescent;

walls thin, pliable.
Seeds

without membrane along edges.

without membrane along edges.
2n

= 44, 88.

Dodecatheon poeticum

Dodecatheon pulchellum
Phenology Flowering spring.
Habitat Moist flats, slopes, and cliff faces in grassland communities and in oak and conifer woodlands
Elevation 50-900 m (200-3000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
AK; AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; ND; NE; NM; NV; OR; SD; UT; WA; WY; AB; BC; MB; NT; SK; YT; nw Mexico
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Dodecatheon poeticum grows mainly in the Columbia River gorge and on the eastern edge of the Cascade Range in Washington, and in Oregon. Nearby one can find D. conjugens var. conjugens and D. pulchellum var. cusickii, features of which (the rugose connective of the former, the glandular condition of the latter) are combined in D. poeticum. The distinct filaments of var. conjugens readily distinguish that taxon from D. poeticum; distinction between D. poeticum and D. pulchellum var. cusickii is difficult. The former has maroon pollen sacs; var. cusickii has yellow ones. Plants with all of the features of D. poeticum rarely have the smooth connective typical of D. pulchellum. H. J. Thompson (1953) suggested that D. poeticum (a tetraploid) might be the product of an allopolyploid involving var. cusickii and D. hendersonii (both diploids).

The leaves of Dodecatheon poeticum are occasionally slightly toothed and relatively broad (e.g., K. L. Chambers 2080, OSC) and resemble the leaves of D. dentatum, a species that flowers in the Gorge typically after D. poeticum. Rootstocks with bulblets are rarely seen on herbarium specimens.

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

Varieties 7 (7 in the flora).

The variation within Dodecatheon pulchellum is substantial and, for the most part, each of the entities recognized here seems distinct although nearly all break down in one or more features; most seem to have intergraded with other entities in the past. Variety pulchellum is the most widespread and remains, even as treated here, quite variable. The depauperate, often uniflorous, high-elevation form, var. watsonii, is included in var. pulchellum; there is no difference except in overall size even on the East Humboldt and Ruby mountains of northeastern Nevada, the type location of var. watsonii. Widely disjunct populations assigned to var. monanthum remain problematic. The plants of northwestern California and southwestern Oregon differ only slightly from those found elsewhere in Oregon, including the Blue Mountains, where the type of var. monanthum was obtained. The southern Utah expression, while similar morphologically, displays a biogeographic pattern that is unique. A better understanding of the variation between the western and eastern phases of var. monanthum is needed.

The coastal var. macrocarpum has consistent morphological differences and a higher ploidy level (2n = 88, 132) compared with the more inland var. pulchellum (2n = 44). Whether or not the ploidy level difference is consistent remains to be shown.

The arid forms of Dodecatheon pulchellum exhibit remarkable morphological differences that require recognition (J. L. Reveal 2005). Hanging garden plants in Utah are recognized as var. zionense, following N. H. Holmgren (2005). Some populations assigned to this variety may ultimately prove to be merely large-leaved plants of either var. pulchellum or the Utah phase of var. monanthum. Zion shootingstar may owe both its large leaves and its glandular-puberulent pedicels and calyces to hybridization with D. redolens sometime in its evolutionary past, even though the latter taxon is no longer close geographically. Variety shoshonense, usually growing in moist, alkaline meadows, is found mainly in the northern Mojave Desert and the Intermountain West. The color pattern associated with the stamens differs from most other varieties of the species, suggesting a fundamental change associated with pollination and likely a closer relationship to var. cusickii (which also has yellow pollen sacs) than to var. pulchellum.

This taxon inadvertently was named Dodecatheon puberulum (Nuttall) Nuttall three years before the establishment of Exinia pulchella. To avoid nomenclatural disruptions, the basionym D. meadia var. puberulum Nuttall has been proposed for rejection (J. L. Reveal and K. N. Gandhi 2008).

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Key
1. Pollen sacs usually maroon to black, if yellow, plants of the Great Plains in Canada or in the Colorado River basin with relatively large leaves and minutely glandular pedicels and calyces
→ 2
1. Pollen sacs usually yellow, at least apically; usually not of the Great Plains in Canada or if in the Colorado River basin then pedicels and calyces not minutely glandular
→ 4
2. Filament tubes usually maroon to black, sometimes yellow basally.
var. monanthum
2. Filament tubes yellow, sometimes yellow basally and maroon distally
→ 3
3. Leaves (3-)4-17(-25) × 0.5-2.5(-4.5) cm; pedicels and calyces usually glabrous; common.
var. pulchellum
3. Leaves (8-)10-48 × 1.5-8.5 cm; pedicels and calyces minutely glandular; rare.
var. zionense
4. Plants glabrous
→ 5
4. Plants glandular, glandular-puberulent, or glandular-pubescent
→ 6
5. Anthers (4.5-)5-8.5 mm; leaves (3-)5-20(-35) × (0.5-)1.5-5 cm, blade elliptic or narrowly ovate to ovate; corolla tubes yellow; pollen sacs with pink to maroon speckles or lines abaxially; coastal or inland coastal montane regions and adjacent eastern valleys.
var. macrocarpum
5. Anthers 3.5-5 mm; leaves 4-15(-22) × 0.5-3.5 cm, blade oblanceolate to elliptic or spatulate; corolla tubes yellow or white; pollen sacs yellow (not speckled or lined); moist, inland, alkaline meadows.
var. shoshonense
6. Plants sparsely glandular-puberulent; pedicels and calyces usually glandular, sometimes sparsely glandular-puberulent; wc South Dakota and ne Wyoming.
var. distolum
6. Plants densely glandular-pubescent or -puberulent; pedicels and calyces usually densely glandular, sometimes glandular-puberulent; s British Columbia s to Oregon, e to w Montana and nw Wyoming
var. cusickii
Source FNA vol. 8, p. 284. FNA vol. 8, p. 279.
Parent taxa Primulaceae > Dodecatheon Primulaceae > Dodecatheon
Sibling taxa
D. alpinum, D. amethystinum, D. austrofrigidum, D. clevelandii, D. conjugens, D. dentatum, D. ellisiae, D. frenchii, D. frigidum, D. hendersonii, D. jeffreyi, D. meadia, D. pulchellum, D. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
D. alpinum, 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. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
Subordinate taxa
D. pulchellum var. cusickii, D. pulchellum var. distolum, D. pulchellum var. macrocarpum, D. pulchellum var. monanthum, D. pulchellum var. pulchellum, D. pulchellum var. shoshonense, D. pulchellum var. zionense
Synonyms Primula poetica Exinia pulchella
Name authority L. F. Henderson: Rhodora 32: 27. 1930 , (Rafinesque) Merrill: J. Arnold Arbor. 29: 212. (1948)
Web links 
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).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America, OregonFlora, UW Burke Herbarium

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers