[The Genus Dodecatheon East of the
Cascade Mountains of Oregon and Washington]
Sticky Shooting Star, Cusick's Shooting Star
Dodecatheon cusickii
Synonyms: Dodecatheon cusickii var. cusickii, Dodecatheon pauciflorum var. cusickii, Dodecatheon pulchellum ssp. cusickii, Dodecatheon pulchellum var. cusickii
This photo shows a close-up of the flower of Cusick's shooting star as seen along Forest Road #4650 east of Dog Fight Corral at the eastern side of Chief Joseph Canyon in the northern Wallowa-Whitman National Forest........June 26, 2008. Note both the broad yellow filament tube and glandular hairs on the stem which help identify this species.
Characteristics:
Cusick's shooting star is an attractive grassland perennial.
The leaves are in a basal rosette and the single flower stem arises from 15-35
cm in height. The herbage is densely glandular-pubescent, especially in the
inflorescence. The leaves are ovoid with entire margins.
The floral parts are five with the stigma not enlarged and the
filaments united at the base to form a yellow tube approximately 1.5-2.5 mm
long. The anther connectives are smooth.
Habitat:
Cusick's shooting star may be found on grasslands, sagebrush,
or forested foothills within its range.
Range:
Cusick's shooting star may be found from British Columbia south
along the eastern edge of the Cascades to eastern Washington and Oregon and
east to Idaho and Montana.
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Cusick's shooting star in grasslands atop Kamiak Butte, Kamiak Butte County Park, Whitman County, Washington........April 29, 2013. The sheen on the stems is dense covering of gland-tipped hairs which helps distinguish this species from the similar Dodecatheon pulchellum.
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Cusick's shooting stars seen with maturing fruits as seen on slopes above the east bank of the John Day River about two and one-half miles downstream of Oregon Highway 206 in Cottonwood Canyon State Park and adjacent BLM lands.........April 9, 2016. Not the numerous glands on the stems and onto the calyx.
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Cusick's shooting stars (both white and pink forms) in bloom along the Stubblefield Trail about one-half mile northwest of Stubblefield Lake, Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge.......May 8, 2019.
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Sticky shooting star, along SR-14 in Washington, across from Biggs, OR.......April 5, 1997.
Paul Slichter