[Shooting Stars: The Genus Dodecatheon in the Columbia
River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]
Narcissus Shooting Star, Poet's Shootingstar, Poet's Shooting Star
Dodecatheon poeticum
Synonym: Primula poetica
Poet's shooting star as seen along the lower sections of The Dalles Mt. Road, north of The Dalles, OR in the Columbia River Gorge..........March 17, 2007.
Characteristics:
Poet's shooting star is an attractive perennial with a basal
rosette of leaves and a flower stem from 15-30 cm high. The oblanceolate, spatulate,
or oblong-lanceolate leaves range from 4-15 cm long with entire to coarsely
serrate-dentate margins. The leaves and stem are covered with a fine glandular-pubescence
(See photo above.).
The 2-10 flowers have floral parts in fives, with reflexed,
bright, pinkish-purple petals with a yellow-ringed tubular base with a red ring.
The corolla is 12-20 mm long. The filaments are united at the base into a purplish
tube from 1.5-2 mm long. The anther connectives are smooth or transversely wrinkled.
The anther is from 5-7 mm long and purplish. The stigma is not enlarged.
Habitat:
Poet's shooting star may be found on seasonally moist grasslands,
lightly forested oak woods, or on basalt outcrops.
Range:
Poet's shooting star may be found from north of Satus Pass in
Yakima County, WA south to Wasco and Hood River Counties, Oregon.
In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found east of Stevenson,
WA east to about Horsethief Butte between the elevations of 100'-2400'.
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Close-ups of poet's shooting star as seen at the Dancing Rock property (Friends of the Columbia Gorge) in the eastern Columbia River Gorge..........March 15, 2010. The similar desert shooting star often lives nearby in similar habitat in the Columbia River Gorge but it has flowers with shorter filaments and thicker, fleshier and greener basal leaves that are glabrous and broadly lanceolate to ovate in outline. The basal leaves of poet's shooting star are thinner, more erect, and covered with numerous short, gland-tipped hairs.
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Poet's shooting star (or desert shooting star?) as seen along the lower sections of The Dalles Mt. Road, north of The Dalles, OR in the Columbia River Gorge..........March 17, 2007.
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Poet's shooting star as seen (left) at Catherine Creek in the Columbia River Gorge..........April 9, 2009. The photo at right shows a cluster of some of the first early-blooming poet's shooting stars as seen along Minor Creek at the east end of Catherine Creek.........March 11, 2016.
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Close-ups of poet's shooting star as seen along a small creek at the Canyon Creek trailhead in the Klickitat State Wildlife Area.........May 8, 2009.
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A rare white-flowered form of poet's shooting star (Dodecatheon poeticum) as seen (left) in a riparian area near the Soda Springs Road, Klickitat State Wildlife Area.........April 7, 2010. The photos at center and at right show poet's shooting star as seen in Rowena Dell between Memaloose and Tom McCall Nature Preserve..........March 31, 2016.
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The photo at left shows several poet's shooting stars perched on a rock outcrop above old Highway 8 at the west end of Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge........April 3, 3012.
The photo at right shows a cluster of poet's shooting stars in a meadow in an open oak forest at Heartleaf Bluff, a Friends of the Columbia Gorge property near Lyle, WA.....April 13, 2024.
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Poet's shooting star blooming (left) under Oregon white oaks on DNR lands near the Cherry Orchard Trail, Columbia River Gorge..........March 26, 2013. The photo at right shows pet's shooting stars blooming in vernally moist swales at Catherine Creek.........April 13, 2016.
A mass of blooming poet's shooting stars in bloom in a vernally moist swale near Minor Creek, which is at the east side of Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge.........April 8, 2014.
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Early blooming poet's shooting stars in bloom at Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge.........March 3, 2015. Note the numerous glandular hairs on the main stem, pedicels and sepals.
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Poet's shooting star as seen at left along a creek in Brooks Memorial State Park, northern Klickitat County, WA..........April 28, 2014. The photo at right shows poet's shooting star in bud in moist swales at Catherine Creek.........March 23, 2017.
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Poet's shooting star as seen at left near the Dog Mt. Summit, Columbia River Gorge..........May 7, 2014. The photo at right shows poet's shooting star in bloom in wet meadows along Little Bowman Creek, Klickitat Wildlife Area.........May 17, 2017.
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Poet's shooting star as seen at left on a bench above Interstate 84 about one-half mile west of the Twin Tunnels, Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area..........April 3, 2015. The photo at right shows poet's shooting star in bloom along the Memaloose Trail, Memaloose State Park, Columbia River Gorge......March 0, 2018.
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Poet's shooting star blooming at left under the oaks along the Lyle-Cherry Orchard Trail, Columbia River Gorge..........April 2, 2015. The photo at right shows poet's shooting star blooming along the Starvation Ridge Trail, Columbia River Gorge.........April 26, 2015.
Poet's shooting star, Catherine Creek, Columbia River Gorge..........April 6, 2002. Note the numerous tiny glands covering the stem and back of the calyx.
Paul Slichter