''Primula jeffreyi'',
synonym ''Dodecatheon jeffreyi'',
[ is a species of flowering plant in the primrose family known by the common names Sierra shooting star, Jeffrey's shooting star, and tall mountain shooting star. This wildflower is native to western North America from ]California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
to Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...
to Montana
Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...
, where it grows in mountain meadows and streambanks. This is a thick-rooted perennial with long, slightly wrinkled leaves around the base. It erects slim, tall, hairy stems which are dark in color and are topped with inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphology (biology), Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of sperma ...
s of 3 to 18 showy flowers. Each flower nods, with its pointed center aimed at the ground when fresh, and becomes more erect with age. It has four or five reflexed sepal
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coine ...
s in shades of pink, lavender, or white which lie back against the body of the flower. Each sepal base has a blotch of bright yellow. From the corolla mouth protrude large dark anthers surrounding a threadlike stigma. The flowers of this species were considered good luck by the Nlaka'pamux
The Nlaka'pamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', ''Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''Kni ...
people, who used them as amulets and love charms. The specific epithet ''jeffreyi'' is in honor of John Jeffrey.
References
External links
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Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants ProfileEthnobotanyPhoto gallery
jeffreyi
Flora of California
Flora of Canada
Flora of Alaska
Flora of Oregon
Flora of Montana
Flora of Idaho
Flora of Washington (state)
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Plants described in 1867
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Primulaceae-stub