By Dr. F. Alice LeDuc
Dodecatheon – Shooting Star
Every spring when I was growing up, Mother would declare it was time for a hike to see the wildflowers in the nearby San Miguel Canyon at the base of Mount Diablo. Some years we just cataloged the various species of plants seen. There were, however, the years when my sisters were in high school and had to make a collection of native wildflowers for their biology class. One of my favorite spring wildflowers was the Shooting Star. In some ways this plant is linked to another of my childhood memories. We lived in the country so in summer sometimes I was allowed to sleep outside on the lawn in my camping sleeping bag. On such an evening as I was settled in to watch the stars and the Milky Way suddenly there was a large orangish fireball streaking across the sky, seemingly coming toward me, trailing a fiery orange tail. Some memories never leave you. So, when I look at the Shooting Star flowers in brings back such memories. The plants are well named; they have petals that are swept back from the thin black stamens that extreme beyond the black base of the petals. The black base changes to a yellow band that then changes color again to pink. So reminiscent of a shooting star. (see photo).
My knowledge of shooting star flowers grew in college when my Botany Professor reintroduced me to Dodecatheon, the generic scientific name for shooting stars. Dr. Thompson was doing research on the genus. Reading information today in the taxonomic work the Flora of North America, it appears that Dr. Thompson’s studies are still very important. Even today with all of the added tools the botanists have there is still much uncertainty in exactly where in the classification system Dodecatheon belongs and how many distinct species there are. So as one needs a dissecting scope to study the morphological differences between species, we will just look at the genus in general for this article.
Shooting Star species can be found throughout all of North America from Alaska to northern Mexico and across the continent from Pacific to Atlantic. Mainly the species can be found in vernal-wet bogs, wetlands and meadows. Vernal means spring, the soil is wet in spring usually but dries out during the heat of summer. While all species have flowers that look quite similar, the size of the purple, pink or white flowers, leaves and height of flowering stems may vary depending on the amount of moisture available. The great delight is to find a wet meadow area full of plants in flower. They all may look alike but there may be more than one species present. Thus, why I am talking about the genus as a whole. The one flower I have pictured with the article is of Dodecatheon hendersonii which is commonly found in our area. The leaves are basal with a scape or stem arising from the center topped with several nodding flowers with the petals swept back and the base narrowed to the black tip.
Shooting Star plants are commonly grow in gardens throughout North America. They can be bought on line, especially from bulb suppliers, even though they grow from a rhizome (underground stem) or caudex (plant crown just above the roots). Many garden centers sell the plants flowering in pots in spring. So, if you have a moist area with plenty of sun you can enjoy the Shooting Stars in your garden. Though don’t forget to go hiking in spring to enjoy all the wildflowers that grace our natural areas.
