SHOOTING-STAR 



Dodecatheon meadia L. 



April - May 

 Prairies, wooded hills 



"])odecathoon", Flower of the Twelve Gods, 

 said Pliny whou he told of the primrose, which 

 was believed to be under the care of the twelve 

 superior gods of 01\aiipus. A member of the Primrose family, the shoot- 

 ing star, was named Dodecatheon by Linnaeus, ])erha])s because of the 

 unusual form and color of the llower, the reual elegance of the plant. 



For sliooting-slar is one of the truly aristocratic ])lants of the Illi- 

 nois springtime. It springs from a tuft of long, straji-like, pale gi-een 

 leaves with ])ink midribs fonning a compact base from which rise one or 

 several stiff green oi- i-uddy stems. At the top of these is a cluster of buds 

 which, as they reach ilowering time, st^md on slender arching stems so 

 that the ilower cluster dws not appear crowded. The flowers have a 

 unique shape, much like that of tiic ( iiltivated cyclamen — live .stiffly 

 recurved petals bent straight l)ai'k from a })rotruiling pistil and the closely 

 pressed-together stanu'us. Tlu'se nuike a yellow beak; small red-brown 

 dots are marked on the j)etals where they meet the stamens. Sometimes 

 the flowers arc pink or lavender-rose; at other times they are white. 



Shooting-star, unlike many plants which demand either sun or shade 

 but seldom both, will grow e(|uaily well out on tiie open prairie, there 

 between the raili'oad tracks and the highway, along with wild hyacinth 

 and puccoon, as it does on the cool, moist, clay slojx} of a north hill. The 

 ])lanl,s on the wooded hills tend to be more deli(^ate and thin, with ])aler 

 j)ink flowers than the ])rairie i)lants. The.se are stout and lush to with- 

 stand the force of jjrairie wind and an April sun which even .<!o early in 

 the scatJon can be strong when its beams are uninterrupted by the pres- 

 ence of trees. 



70 



