Dodecatheon conjugens
Synonyms: Dodecatheon conjugens ssp. conjugens, Dodecatheon conjugens ssp. leptophyllum, Dodecatheon conjugens var. conjugens, Dodecatheon conjugens ssp. viscidum, Dodecatheon conjugens var. conjugens, Dodecatheon conjugens var. viscidum
The
photo at right shows desert shooting star from the hillsides above the east bank
of the Deschutes River near its mouth..........March 30, 2002.
Desert shooting star is an attractive perennial wildflower with a basal rosette of leaves and erect stem from 5-20 cm tall. The leaves are lanceolate to oblanceolate, spatulate, or obovate, 3-20 cm long, usually several times longer than wide, with entire margins and a smooth to lightly pubescent surface.
The 1-10 flowers have floral parts in fives, with the stigma not enlarged and the filaments are free, yellowish or purple, and usually not over 1-1.5 mm long. The anther connectives are strongly transversely wrinkled and from deep red to purple. The anthers are from 6-8 mm long. The tube at the base of the petals is yellowish with a wrinkled red ring. The corollas are 1-3 cm long. The reflexed petals are purplish.
Key identifying Characteristics:1. Stem and leaves nonglandular.
2. Filaments only 1-1.5 mm long, giving the stamens the appearance of being very short.
3. In the Gorge, the filaments may be yellow or blackish.
Desert shooting star is a wildflower of seasonally moist open grasslands or sagebrush in the plains, foothills and montane zones of the west.
Desert shooting star may be found from the east slopes of the Cascade Mts. east to Alberta and Wyoming, north to British Columbia, and south to northern California.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found from Rowland Lake east between the elevations of 200'-3000'.
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