Wikimedia Commons
Primulaceae
Eastern Shooting Star
Dodecatheon meadia
Fleeting beauty.
- Family
- Primulaceae
- Genus
- Dodecatheon
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- perennial herb
- Height
- 0.5-1.5 ft
- Sunlight
- part shade to full sun
- Soil
- moist, rich, well-drained
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- 4-8
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- The flowers are buzz-pollinated; bumblebees grasp the petals and vibrate their flight muscles to shake pollen loose from the fused anthers.
- The genus name Dodecatheon means 'twelve gods' in Greek, as Pliny believed the plant was protected by the gods.
- Shooting star is an ephemeral that goes completely dormant by midsummer, disappearing underground until the following spring.
- Richard Mead, personal physician to Queen Anne and King George I, is honored in the species name 'meadia'.
- Native Americans used root preparations as a remedy for canker sores and eye inflammation.
Color meanings
0
you are my divinity
1
celestial beauty