Dodecatheon poeticum
Dodecatheon alpinum
narcissus shooting star, poet's shooting star
alpine shooting star
not obvious at anthesis;
roots white;
bulblets usually present.
not obvious at anthesis or short and compact;
root whitish;
bulblets absent.
(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.
2–20(–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.
2–10(–17)-flowered;
bracts narrowly to broadly lanceolate, 2–10 mm, glandular-pubescent.
1–10-flowered;
bracts lanceolate, 3–10(–12) mm, usually glabrous, sometimes sparsely glandular-puberulent.
1–3.5 cm, glandular-pubescent.
(0.5–)1–5 cm, usually glabrous, rarely sparsely glandular-pubescent.
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 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.
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 purplish toward apex, valvate, narrowly ovoid, 5–11(–12) × 3–7 mm, glabrous;
walls thin, pliable.
without membrane along edges.
with membrane along edges.
= 44, 88.
= 44.
Dodecatheon poeticum
Dodecatheon alpinum
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.)
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.)
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
CA
