Shooting star
Also known as: American cowslip
Primula meadia (L.) A. R. Mast
[=Dodecatheon meadia L. ]
Images
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Morphology
- Stem
- Erect flowering stalk, leafless, unbranched, glabrous or glandular-hairy in the inflorescence.
- Leaves
- Simple, in basal rosette; ovate, spatulate, oblong, or oblanceolate, 2.5 to 8 inches long, 1 to 3 inches wide above middle, base usually reddish; margins entire or with hard points; tip blunt to rounded; blade tapering into stalk.
- Inflorescence
- Umbel, terminal; flowers few to many or sometimes solitary; bracts triangular to lanceolate, to 2/5 inch long, pointed, in whorl.
- Flower
- Very showy, erect in bud, nodding in flower and 1.2 to 2.8 inches long; stalk slender; calyx tube short, bell-shaped, deeply 5-lobed, 1/10 to 1/6 inch long; corolla tube very short, throat thickened, maroon, yellow above; corolla lobes 5, oblong-elliptic, to 1/2 inch long, 2/5 inch wide, magenta, lavender, pink, or white, strongly reflexed; stamens usually 5, anthers linear-lanceolate, 1/4 to 2/5 inch long, free or united into tube, forming conspicuous cone, bases yellow, upper purple, dark maroon or black.
- Fruit
- Capsule, egg-shaped to cylindric, 1/3 to 3/4 inch long, dark reddish-brown; seeds many, spherical or egg-shaped, 1/10 inch long.
Ecology
- Habitat
- Moist or dry prairies, woods, and rocky bluffs; on slopes or in low ground; calcareous clay soil.
- Distribution
- Southeast 1/4 of Kansas.
Practical Information
- Uses
- Cultivated as an ornamental.
Additional Notes
Comments
Common name possibly refers to the comet-like appearance of the flower, i.e. a head and trailing tail. Another legend espouses that falling stars become these wildflowers. Named for English physician Richard Mead, 1673-1754. Members of this genus release pollen when visiting bees vibrate their thoracic flight muscles at a particular frequency which in turn causes the anthers to vibrate.
Synonyms
Alternative scientific names that have been used for this plant.
Scientific Name: Dodecatheon meadia
Full Citation: Dodecatheon meadia L.
Quick Facts
- Plant Type
- Wildflower
- Family
- Primulaceae - Primrose Family
- Life Span
- Perennial
- Height
- 8-22 inches
- Last Updated
- 2022-04-20
Color Groups
Flowering Period
Blooms: April, May