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Dodecatheon poeticum

narcissus shooting star, poet's shooting star

frigid shooting star, tillamook shooting star, tundra shooting star

Habit Plants 10–45 cm; scape glandular-pubescent. Plants (5–)10–45 cm; scape usually glabrous, glandular-puberulent distally.
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.

2.5–30 × 0.7–7 cm;

petiole winged;

blade narrowly to broadly elliptic or ovate, base decurrent onto stem, gradually tapering to petiole, margins entire or irregularly sinuate-dentate to denticulate, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

2–10(–17)-flowered;

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

1–7-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 2.5–10 mm, glandular-puberulent.

Pedicels

1–3.5 cm, glandular-pubescent.

(0.4–)0.5–4.5(–5.5) cm, glandular-puberulent, sometimes glabrous.

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, 5–11 mm, glabrous or glandular (at least on margins of lobes), tube 1–2.5(–3) mm, lobes 5, 3–9 mm;

corolla tube white with reddish to purplish, thin, wavy ring, lobes 5, magenta, (9–)15–20(–23) mm;

filaments distinct, dark maroon to dark purple, 0.5–1.8 mm;

anthers (4.5–)6–8 mm;

pollen sacs maroon to dark purple, connective dark purple, smooth;

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.

greenish to tannish with purple speckles, often purplish apically, operculate or valvate, ovoid, 6–16 × 3.5–5.5(–7) mm, glabrous;

walls thin, pliable.

Seeds

without membrane along edges.

without membrane along edges.

2n

= 44, 88.

= 88.

Dodecatheon poeticum

Dodecatheon austrofrigidum

Phenology Flowering spring. Flowering spring.
Habitat Moist flats, slopes, and cliff faces in grassland communities and in oak and conifer woodlands Moist basaltic slopes, ridges, streamsides, and cliff faces in conifer woodlands near waterfalls and along streams or in high-elevation, tundralike, grassland communities
Elevation 50-900 m [160-3000 ft] 30-1200 m [100-3900 ft]
Distribution
from FNA
OR; WA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
OR; WA
[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.)

Of conservation concern.

Dodecatheon austrofrigidum occurs mainly in the mountains near the coast of Washington from the southern Olympic Peninsula (Grays Harbor and Pacific counties) to northwestern Oregon (Clatsop and Tillamook counties). The populations are widely scattered and always with relatively few individuals. At higher elevations (e.g., ca. 1200 m atop Saddle Mountain, Tillamook County), D. austrofrigidum occurs in moist, grassy turf. At lower elevations in the same area, it occurs on stream banks in the narrow zone between the high- and low-water mark, persisting in cracks of basaltic rocks. The degree of denticulation of the leaves appears to vary among populations; some larger plants have toothed leaf blades even prior to anthesis.

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 284. Treatment author: James L. Reveal. FNA vol. 8, p. 278. Treatment author: James L. Reveal.
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. 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
Synonyms Primula poetica Primula austrofrigida
Name authority L. F. Henderson: Rhodora 32: 27. 1930 , K. L. Chambers: Sida 22: 462, figs. 1–3. 2006 ,
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