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Primulaceae
Shooting Star
Primula meadia
Wishes, new beginnings, you are divine.
- Family
- Primulaceae
- Genus
- Primula
- Native to
- Eastern North America
- Bloom season
- Spring
- Type
- Herbaceous perennial
- Height
- 20–45 cm
- Sunlight
- Part shade
- Soil
- Rich, moist, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate; goes summer-dormant
- Hardiness
- 4–8
- Lifespan
- Long-lived perennial
Did you know
- The flowers really do look like shooting stars — petals swept dramatically backward and a pointed yellow nose aimed downward, like a comet streaking earthward.
- Bumblebees pollinate shooting stars by gripping the inverted flower and vibrating their wings rapidly, shaking pollen out of the anthers — a behavior called 'buzz pollination'.
- It's a true spring ephemeral — flowers in April, sets seed, and disappears completely above ground by June.
- Despite being a primrose relative, it looks nothing like its European cousins; the flower shape is unique among primulas.
- Native to prairies and open woodlands, it was once called 'prairie pointer' or 'rooster heads' by early American settlers.
Color meanings
Pink
A wish made on a star