''Primula clevelandii'', with the common name of Padre's shooting star, is a species of primrose. Its

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

''clevelandii'' honors 19th-century San Diego-based plant collector and lawyer Daniel Cleveland.

Description

''Primula clevelandii'' is spring

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, aft ...

, dying back to the ground after the rains cease. It has basal clumps of leaves up to 40 centimeters long. The flowers are magenta to deep lavender to white. They are nodding flowers each about an inch long on stems up to a foot tall. This species hybridizes with ''

Primula hendersonii ''Primula hendersonii'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Primulaceae, native to western North America, from California north to southern British Columbia and Idaho. Common names include broad-leaved shooting star, Henderson's shootin ...

'', from which it can be distinguished by its green stem.

Subspecies

Named subspecies include: *''Primula clevelandii'' ssp. ''clevelandii —'' The autonymous subspecies. In

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, it is found in the northwestern part of the state at low elevations from

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

south to El Rosario. *''Primula clevelandii'' ssp. ''gracilis —'' Known commonly as the island shooting star. Found on the

California Channel Islands The Channel Islands () are an eight-island archipelago located within the Southern California Bight in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of California. The four Northern Channel Islands are part of the Transverse Ranges geologic province, and ...

and

Guadalupe Island Guadalupe Island ( es, Isla Guadalupe, link=no) is a volcanic island located off the western coast of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula and about southwest of the city of Ensenada in the state of Baja California, in the Pacific Ocean. The ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. *''Primula clevelandii'' ssp. ''insularis'' *''Primula clevelandii'' ssp. ''patula''

Distribution

The plant is native to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and Baja California. It is generally found in open

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes, like clover, and other herbs. Grasslands occur natur ...

areas.

References

*"Wildflowers of Henry W. Coe State Park" brochure, Larry Ulrich, 2002

External links

Jepson eFlora Treatment of ''Primula clevelandii''Calflora Database: ''Dodecatheon clevelandii'' (padre's shooting star)Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Dodecatheon clevelandii''USDA Plants Profile for ''Dodecatheon clevelandii'' (padre's shooting star)''Dodecatheon clevelandii'' — Photo gallery
clevelandii Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of Mexican Pacific Islands Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Taxa named by Edward Lee Greene Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Primulaceae-stub