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Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



Shooting Stars. Dodocath^on 

 (Primulaceae) 



By Roland Rice 



The Shooting Star or Dodocatheon seems to have more popular 

 names than most of the other wild plants ; it is a great favorite with 

 children. The blossoms are unusual in appearance and catch the 

 imaginative fancy ; for when Linnaeus gave them the name Dodoca- 

 theon he did so because he fancied the group of flowers to be an 

 assemblage of divinities and called them "Twelve Gods," as the 

 Greek word is translated. (The Primrose Family is supposed to 

 be under the care of the deities.) But children seem to have no 

 room for the long Greek name in their vocabulary and so have 

 invented rather pert little names to suit themselves (and incident- 

 ally to suit the flowers). The most common of these are Shooting 

 Stars, Mad Violets, Mosquito Bills, Sailors' Capes, Rooster Heads, 

 and Prairie Pointers. The flower has also been called American 

 Cowslip, Wild Cyclamen, Cupid's Quiver, and various other names. 



