PRIMULACEAE

PRIMROSE FAMILY

Anita F. Cholewa and Douglass M. Henderson

Annual, perennial herb, subshrub, glabrous to glandular-hairy
Leaves simple, basal or cauline, alternate, opposite, or whorled, sessile or petioled; stipules 0
Inflorescence sometimes scapose
Flower bisexual, radial; parts generally in 4's or 5's; calyx deeply lobed, often persistent; corolla lobes spreading to reflexed; stamens epipetalous, opposite corolla lobes; ovary generally superior, 1-chambered, placenta basal or free-central, style 1, stigma head-like
Fruit: capsule, circumscissile or 2–6-valved
Seeds small, few–many
Genera in family: ± 25 genera, 600 species: especially n hemisphere; several ornamental (Cyclamen , Dodecatheon , Primula )
Reference: [Channell & Wood 1959 J Arnold Arbor 40:268–288]

DODECATHEON

SHOOTING STAR

Perennial, glabrous or glandular-hairy; roots fleshy-fibrous
Leaves basal
Inflorescence: umbel, 1 per scapose peduncle, terminal, few–many-flowered, subtended by bracts
Flower nodding; parts in 4's or 5's; sepals reflexed, later erect, persistent; corolla tube short, lobes reflexed; stamens exserted, filaments very short, wide, often fused, anthers erect, ± lanceolate, surrounding style; ovary superior, style slender, ± exserted from anthers
Fruit ± 5-valved or circumscissile, ovate to spheric
Species in genus: ± 14 species: generally North America
Etymology: (Greek: 12 gods, presumably the Olympians)
Reference: [Thompson 1953 Contr Dudley Herb 4:73–154]
Polyploid group; species sometimes intergrade.

Native

D. jeffreyi Van Houtte

SIERRA SHOOTING STAR

Plant (except stem) glabrous to densely glandular-hairy (stem glandular-hairy)
Leaf 9–50 cm; blade generally oblanceolate, generally narrowed gradually to petiole, entire to crenate
Inflorescence 3–18-flowered
Flower: parts in 4's or 5's; corolla lobes 10–25 mm, magenta to lavender or white; filaments free or partly fused, generally < 1.5 mm, anthers 6.5–11 mm, tissue near base strongly wrinkled to ± smooth, generally dark; stigma enlarged
Fruit circumscissile or with valves
Chromosomes: 2n=42,43,44, 66,86
Ecology: Moist to dry meadows, streambanks
Elevation: 600–3000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Northwestern California (except North Coast), Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: to Alaska, Montana
Synonyms: subsp. pygmaeum (H.M. Hall) H.J. Thompson
Highly variable, especially in CaR, OR, WA. Intergrades with D. alpinum
Horticultural information: IRR: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7; DFCLT.