[Prairie Stars & Woodland Stars East of the Cascade Mts.]
Bulblet Prairie Star

Lithophragma glabrum

formerly Lithophragma bulbifera

The photo above shows bulblet prairie star as seen from from the sagebrush steppe at Upper Cowiche Canyon, a BLM site at the western outskirts of Yakima, WA......................March 28, 2007. Note the deeply cut petals.
The photo at right shows a close-up of the flowers of bulblet praire star as seen at Wasco Butte in the Columbia River Gorge............April 1999.
Characteristics:

This species is now considered as part of the genus Lithophragma glabrum.

Also known as rock star or fringecup, bulblet prairie star is an attractive perennial with stems arising 10-20 cm from a cluster of small basal leaves. The herbage of stems and leaves is typically spreading glandular-hairy but plants may also be glabrous (See the photo below.). When present, the gland tips are often purplish. The stems and inflorescence are often reddish-purple in color. The basal leaves are cleft to the base into 3-5 wedge-shaped segments which are each individually lobed. The basal leaves are typically divided to or very near their base, and they are smooth-surfaced to very lightly haired. The 2-5 stem leaves are similar to the basal leaves, but reduced in size. They may bear several small reddish-purple bulblets within their axils.

The inflorescence is elongate and usually compound with the lower flowers often replaced by bulblets. The flowers bear 5 white to pinkish-tinged petals. The blades of the petals are cuneate-obovate in outline and usually less than 8 mm long. The petals are 3-5 cleft, with each division further divided, often deeply, giving the petals a tattered look (See the photos on this page.). The calyx is cup-like, or broadly rounded at the base, and from 2.5-3.5 mm long in flower.

Habitat:

Bulblet prairie star may be found on open, grassy to sagebrush covered slopes, and among ponderosa pine and Douglas fir in open forests.

Range:

Bulblet prairie star may be found from southern British Columbia south to the east of the Cascades to California. It may be found east to Alberta, the Dakotas, and Colorado.

Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum v. bulbifera

This photo shows a close-up of bulblet prairie star as seen on moist soils (where the snow has just melted) at Buckhorn Lookout on the western edge of the Imnaha Canyon in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest..................June 27, 2008.

Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum v. bulbifera ----- Inflorescence of Lithophragma glabrum (v. bulbifera) ----- Basal leaf of Lithophragma glabrum (v. bulbifera)

These 3 photos show close-up views of bulblet prairie star as seen on moist soils (where the snow has just melted) at Buckhorn Lookout on the western edge of the Imnaha Canyon in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest..................June 27, 2008. Click each photo to see an enlarged version (2x).

The photo above shows a close-up sideview of the inflorescence of bulblet prairie star as seen from from the sagebrush steppe at Upper Cowiche Canyon, a BLM site at the western outskirts of Yakima, WA......................March 28, 2007. Note the numerous short, gland-tipped hairs as well as the bulblets at the base of both flowers.

Basal leaf of Bulblet Prairie Star: Lithophragma glabrum (Old Lithophragma bulbifera)

The photo above shows a close-up of a basal leaf of bulblet prairie star as seen on the ridge just west of Misery Campground in the Umatilla N.F. of southeastern Washington......................July 7, 2008. Note the numerous glands on the surfac of the leaf.
Paul Slichter