Shooting Star

(Dodecatheon meadia)

 

   

 

 

Color Photograph: Illinois State Museum

Line Drawing: Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada, Second Edition.

 

Shooting Star (Dodecatheon meadia L.)

Identification: Flowers pink to white-pink. Petals strongly bent backward (and upward in the orientation of the plant). Stamens fused into a pointed beak. Flowers in a loose cluster at the top of an elongate flowering stalk. Flowering stalk reddish. Leaves in a basal rosette, broad and elongate, heavily tinged at the base and along the midvein. Plant 10 to 24 inches in height.

Distribution: Minnesota in the west to New York in the east, southward to Florida and Texas.

Habitat: Shooting Star is found in meadows, prairies, and open woodlands.

Flowering period: April to June.

Similar Species: The distinctive flower shape and the basal rosette of leaves are distinctive for this species.

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