Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr.
Shooting star, darkthroat shooting star, few-flower shooting star, western shooting star
Shooting stars are native to the western United States, in desert habitats. Bees buzz-pollinate these flowers, vibrating wing muscles at a specific frequency to forcefully shake pollen from the anthers.
Plants: Perennials, 1¾–16″ (5–40 cm) tall.
Leaves: A basal rosette of thick leaves, ¾–6″ (2–15 cm) long, oblong-lanceolate to oblanceolate. Leaf edges are usually smooth, but may have small teeth.
Flowers: Groups of 1-25 flowers appear in a cluster at the top of the stem. The corolla—the whorl of 5 petals—is swept way back, completely covering the calyx and much of the stem, as if facing a strong wind. The corolla is ⅜–¾″ (1–2 cm) long, and lavendar or magenta (rarely white). The petals fuse together into a ring about 1/16″ (2 mm) wide at their base, yellow, usually with an uneven band of purple. Projecting forward from this is a yellow to reddish-purple tube, ⅛–¼″ (4–7 mm) long. Flowers appear from April to August.
Fruits: Capsules, tan to light brown, sometimes speckled with red or maroon, ⅛–½ ⨉ 1/16–3/16″ (5–14 ⨉ 3–5 mm), and thin-walled.
Habitats: Saline swamps, damp grasslands, streambanks, and mountain meadows.
Online References:
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 9″ (18 × 21 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 7 × 7″ (18 × 18 cm) 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 9 × 10″ (23 × 26 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 10 × 12″ (26 × 31 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 12 × 15″ (29 × 36 cm) ID is uncertain 
5/15/2010 · Garden in the Woods, Framingham, Massachusetts · ≈ 5 × 6″ (12 × 16 cm) 
| Parents | Unknown | Genus is not in the current taxonomy |
| Genus | Dodecatheon | From the Greek dodeka, “twelve,” and thios, “god(s).” One source implies that it was considered to be powerful medicine and under the care of the twelve leading gods, and another suggests that because the flowers sometimes appear in clusters of twelve, the Roman naturalist Pliny bestowed this name because he thought the flowers represented the twelve Olympian gods |
| Species | pulchellum | Derived from the Latin for “beautiful” |
Dodecatheon pulchellum description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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