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For Your Garden - June 2008
shooting-star (Dodecatheon meadia)
Illinois Status: common, native
Photo © River Valley Photographic Resources Ltd., rvprltd.com
The unusual flowers of shooting-star may be pink or white and are produced in April and May. A native of moist prairies, open woods and meadows, all the leaves of this plant grow at its base. The flower stalk is slender and reaches one to two feet in height. The flowers develop at the tip of a stalk in a cluster. Each of the five petals points backward. They are joined at the base by a yellow tube. Five pollen-producing structures form a beak below where the petals meet.
Classification and taxonomy are based on Mohlenbrock, Robert H. 2014. Vascular flora of Illinois: A field guide. Fourth edition. Southern Illinois University Press, Carbondale. 536 pp.
Illinois Range
Taxonomy
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Primulales
Family: Primulaceae
Habitats
Aquatic Habitats
wet prairies and fens
Woodland Habitats
upland deciduous forests
Prairie and Edge Habitats
black soil prairie
Native Plant Information
For more information about Illinois native plants, visit our Native Habitat Descriptions, Requirements, and Plant Lists page. The following publications are available from the IDNR on our publications page.
