Flora of North America species comparison

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Dodecatheon pulchellum

Dodecatheon pulchellum var. cusickii

darkthroat shooting star, few-flower shootingstar
Photo is of parent taxon

Cusick's shooting star, sticky shooting star
Habit Plants (2–)10–45(–60) cm; scape usually glabrous, sometimes glandular-pubescent or -puberulent. Plants usually densely glandular-puberulent or glandular-pubescent.
Caudices

not obvious at anthesis;

roots white;

bulblets absent.

Leaves

(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.

5–18 × (0.7–)1.3–4.5 cm;

blade oblanceolate to ovate.
Inflorescences

2–15(–22)-flowered;

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

Pedicels

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

glandular-pubescent or -puberulent.
Flowers

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.

calyx glandular-pubescent or -puberulent;

corolla tube yellow with reddish, thin, wavy ring, lobes magenta to lavender, rarely white, 7–12 mm;

filament tube yellow, 1.5–2.5 mm;

anthers 3–4.5 mm;

pollen sacs usually yellow, sometimes reddish to maroon, connective maroon.
Capsules

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.

2n

= 44, 88.

Dodecatheon pulchellum

Dodecatheon pulchellum var. cusickii
Phenology Flowering late spring.
Habitat Flats and slopes mainly in grassland and sagebrush communities, sometimes in oak and/or conifer woodlands
Elevation (100-)200-1900(-2200) m [(300-)700-6200(-7200) ft]
Distribution
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]
from FNA
ID; MT; OR; WA; WY; BC
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

Variety cusickii is densely glandular-pubescent to glandular-puberulent. It occurs from northeastern Oregon to southeastern British Columbia, thence across Idaho to western Montana, with a disjunct population at Birdseye, Wyoming (A. Nelson 9610, 4 May 1911; DS, RM-mixed with Dodecatheon conjugens). Its range is well within that of var. pulchellum. The whole plant (leaves, scapes, pedicels, and calyx) is densely glandular, unlike D. conjugens var. viscidum, which usually has sparsely and minutely glandular-puberulent pedicels, leaves, and scapes that are (typically) glandular-pubescent proximally. Plants from Alberta and Saskatchewan assigned previously to var. cusickii are var. viscidum.

(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. 279. FNA vol. 8, p. 284.
Parent taxa Primulaceae > Dodecatheon Primulaceae > Dodecatheon > Dodecatheon pulchellum
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. poeticum, D. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
D. pulchellum var. distolum, D. pulchellum var. macrocarpum, D. pulchellum var. monanthum, D. pulchellum var. pulchellum, D. pulchellum var. shoshonense, D. pulchellum var. zionense
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 Exinia pulchella D. cusickii, D. pulchellum subsp. cusickii, Primula pauciflora var. cusickii
Name authority (Rafinesque) Merrill: J. Arnold Arbor. 29: 212. (1948) (Greene) Reveal: SouthW. Naturalist 18: 399. 1974 ,
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).



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