Dodecatheon pulchellum var. pulchellum
Dodecatheon pulchellum var. distolum
dark-throated shooting star, darkthroat shootingstar, few-flower shooting star, pretty shootingstar, yellowthroat shooting star
syncline shootingstar
(3–)4–17(–25) × 0.5–2.5(–4.5) cm;
blade oblanceolate to spatulate.
2–10(–13) × (0.3–)0.5–2 cm;
blade oblanceolate to elliptic.
usually glabrous, rarely glandular.
usually glandular, rarely sparsely glandular-puberulent.
calyx usually glabrous, rarely glandular;
corolla tube yellow with maroon, thin, wavy ring, lobes magenta to lavender, (5–)7–15(–18) mm;
filament tube usually yellow, rarely magenta, 1.8–3.6 mm;
anthers 3.5–5 mm;
pollen sacs usually maroon, rarely yellow, connective maroon.
calyx glabrous and often minutely glandular at least on margins or sparsely glandular-puberulent;
corolla lobes usually magenta to lavender, rarely white, 8–15(–18) mm, tube yellow with reddish, thin, wavy ring;
filament tube yellow, 1–2(–2.5) mm;
anthers 3.5–6 mm;
pollen sacs yellow, connective maroon.
= 44.
Dodecatheon pulchellum var. pulchellum
Dodecatheon pulchellum var. distolum
Variety pulchellum is the most widespread and common variant of the species. It ranges from south-eastern Alaska and western Canada, to southeastern Manitoba, to Lassen County, California, northern and eastern Arizona, New Mexico, and northern Mexico. Scattered populations are found in western North Dakota (Burke County) and in western Nebraska (Morrill County). A collection at Fort Lewis, Thurston County, Washington (D. Thysell 705, WTU), may be an introduction.
Relatively small, usually high-elevation plants in southeastern British Columbia, Idaho, western Montana, northeastern Nevada, and western Wyoming have been segregated as var. watsonii. The origin of a similar specimen, supposedly from Mount Arrowsmith on Vancouver Island (collector unknown, UBC) remains to be confirmed. In Montana and northwestern Wyoming, such plants can be easily confused with the sparsely glandular Dodecatheon conjugens, which also has transverse rugose (not smooth or longitudinally wrinkled) connectives.
Plants with leaves to 25 cm wide may be seen along the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and in north-central New Mexico; this phase was named Dodecatheon radicatum. Some populations from Alberta (the type location of D. pulchellum) have similar leaves. Plants with yellow pollen sacs occur in some populations on the Great Plains in Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan, gradually becoming more common eastward. A collection from the Sierra Madre, Durango, Mexico (E. W. Nelson 4780, K, US) is allied to var. pulchellum. Some populations east of the Alaska Range and in adjacent northern Yukon, here assigned to var. pulchellum, have minutely glandular calyces, pedicels, nodes, and uppermost portion of scapes. The taxonomic significance of these plants has not been determined; they may indicate some past introgression with D. frigidum.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Variety distolum is found primarily on both sides of the Powder River Basin syncline in the Big Horn Mountains to the west and the Black Hills of northeastern Wyoming and adjacent west-central South Dakota in the east. Isolated populations occur at Devils Tower in Crook County, Wyoming.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
CA
OR
WA
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
SW CO Wildflowers
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
