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Native Plant Propagation Guidelines:
forbs

Dodecatheon pulchellum ssp. (few-flowered shootingstar)

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Category: 
forbs

photo by Dave Polster

Hairless to glandular-hairy perennial with leafless flowers stems 5 – 50 cm tall. Oblong lance to spoon-shaped basal leaves tapering gradually to stalk. Bright pink/magenta flowers in an umbel of 3-25 atop stem. Individual flowers have five swept back petals united at the base in a yellowish collar with purplish ring and yellow stamen tube. Pale roots are without bulblets (in contrast to D. hendersonii which has bulblets present amongst roots). Seed capsules are brown when mature, cylindrical to egg-shaped, one chamber containing many seeds (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994). Photo by Dave Polster.

Scientific Name: 

Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merrill (D. pauciflorum [Durand] Greene, D. pulchellum ssp. pauciflorum [Durand] Hult., D. radiatum Grene, D. radiatum ssp. macrocarpum [A. Gray] Beamish, D. pauciflorum var. watsonii [Tidestr.] C.L. Hitchc., and D. radiatum ssp. watsonii Thomps. = ssp. pulchellum; D. cusickii (Greene) Calder & Taylor, D. pauciflorum ssp. cusickii = spp. cusickii).

 

 

Family: 
Primulaceae
English Name: 
few-flowered shootingstar
Other Names: 
pretty shootingstar

Geographical Range and Habitat Requirements

Ecological Setting: 

Moist meadows, wet coastal rocks and bluffs, stream-banks. Sea level to alpine, mostly at low elevations in northern part of region (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Soil Texture: 

Humus rich soils.

Nutrients: 

  

Soil Reaction and Salinity: 

Grows in saline meadows (Pojar and MacKinnon, 1994).

Moisture Regime: 

Winter/spring moist soils with a drier summer habitat (Kruckeberg, 1982).

Shade Tolerance: 

Partial shade is best, particularly in drier locations.

Successional Status: 
n/a
BEC Zone and GOE Community Status: 
n/a

Uses

Site Rehabilitation: 
n/a
Wildlife: 
n/a
Landscaping: 

Very attractive late spring flowering plants for the woodland garden or shaded rockery pockets (S. Bastin personal communication).

First Nations: 
n/a
Other Uses: 
n/a

Seed Propagation

Flowering Time: 

April-May

Fruit Ripening Time: 

July-August

Seed Collection Time: 

August-September

Crop Intervals: 

Annual

Number of Seeds per Kilogram: 
n/a
Seed Viability: 
n/a
Fruit and Seed Collection and Extraction: 
n/a
Seed Storage: 
n/a
Fruit/Seed Dormancy and Treatment: 

Ripe seed best sown in fall for natural cold/moist stratification. Some success reported (Richard Fraser and Richard Hebda) with sowing green seed for same-season germination.

Vegetative Propagation

Good success rates with plant division in early spring or fall.

Outplanting Characteristics and Requirements

Seedlings small and require several years to become flowering plant.

Seed and Cutting Propagation Techniques

n/a

Additional Information and Photos

For more information and pictures, visit the E-Flora BC website at www.eflora.bc.ca.

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