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Dodecatheon dentatum

dentate shooting star, tooth American cowslip, white shooting star

Habit Plants 15–40(–50) cm; scape glabrous.
Caudices

not obvious at anthesis, or sometimes erect to slightly horizontal, slender;

roots white or reddish;

bulblets absent.

Leaves

(3.5–)8–20(–30) × (1–)2.5–6(–7) cm;

petiole slightly winged;

blade ovate, base decurrent onto stem, abruptly tapering to petiole, margins subentire to sinuate or crenate, surfaces glabrous.

Inflorescences

(1–)2–5(–11)-flowered;

bracts lanceolate, 1.5–5(–8) mm, glabrous.

Pedicels

0.8–5 cm, glabrous.

Flowers

calyx light green, 4–6 mm, glabrous, tube 2–3.5 mm, lobes 5, 1.5–3(–4) mm;

corolla tube yellow with red, thin, wavy ring, lobes 5, white, 7–18(–20) mm;

filaments distinct, maroon to black, 0.1–0.5 mm;

anthers (4.5–)5–7.5 mm;

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

stigma not enlarged compared to style.

Capsules

pale greenish to tannish, dark yellow apically, valvate, narrowly ovoid, (6–)8–11 × 3–5 mm, glabrous;

walls thin, pliable.

Seeds

without membrane along edges.

2n

= 44.

Dodecatheon dentatum

Phenology Flowering late spring–summer.
Habitat Moist stream banks, cliff faces and steep slopes mainly in meadows and open oak and/or conifer woodlands
Elevation 60-2600 m (200-8500 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
ID; OR; WA; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Dodecatheon dentatum occurs mainly on the eastern slope of the Cascade Range from south-central British Columbia to central Washington, with disjunct populations near the Columbia River in southwestern Washington, the Columbia River Gorge, northeastern Oregon, and northern Idaho. In Idaho, this species occasionally forms hybrids with D. pulchellum var. pulchellum (Oberle 262, MO).

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

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 278.
Parent taxa Primulaceae > Dodecatheon
Sibling taxa
D. alpinum, D. amethystinum, D. austrofrigidum, D. clevelandii, D. conjugens, D. ellisiae, D. frenchii, D. frigidum, D. hendersonii, D. jeffreyi, D. meadia, D. poeticum, D. pulchellum, D. redolens, D. subalpinum, D. utahense
Synonyms D. latilobum, D. meadia var. latilobum, Primula latiloba
Name authority Hooker: Fl. Bor.-Amer. 2: 119. 1838 ,
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