498 



DODECATHEON 



after flowering and do not appear again until the next 

 spring. Shooting Stars are said to be easily forced. The 

 best varieties at present are obtained from Europe. 



The genus Dodecatheon is much confused : that is, 

 it is differently understood by different authors. In 

 the Synoptical Flora, 1878, Gray accepted but one spe- 

 cies, D. Meadia, and referred all the known forms to 



DODECATHEON 



EBB. Capsule obtuse, thin, more or less cylindrical, 

 surpassing the calyx, dehiscent by a circutri' 



HenderBoni, Gray. About a foot high: Ivs. small, obo 

 vate: Hs. like those of D. ellipticum. Idaho to Calif. 

 and north. 



AA. Anthers seemingly sessile, the very short filaments 

 inserted below the orifice of the corolla. 



frigidum, Cham. & Schlecht. (D. Meadia, var. 

 Irigidum, Gray). Lvs. oboTate to oblong, very ob- 

 tuse, mostly entire : calyx-lobes longer than the tube : 

 capsule oblong. Behring straits to Rockies and Sierras. 

 B.M.5871. 



Var. dentitum, Gray (Z>. rfenYddon, Hook. D. Meadia, 

 var. liitilobum, Gray). Larger: lvs. with blade 1-1 in. 

 long, oval or ovate to oblong, repand or sparingly den- 

 tate, abruptly contracted into long winged petioles. 

 Utah, west and north. 



six varieties of it. Later (Botanical Gazette 11:2.11) he 

 revised Ills view of the genus, and recognized five spe- 

 eies. .V synopsis of this latter view is here given, and 

 it is followed by a conspectus of the latest view of the 

 genus by Professor Greene. Various garden names are 

 not accounted for in either sketch, nor is it possible to 

 refer them to their proper places without studying the 

 plants themselves; and these forms are Old World pro- 

 ductions, and are not known to be in the American trade. 

 A. Anthers on evident filaments, the latter being in- 

 serted at the very orifice of the short corolla-tube 

 and distinctly monadelphous: lvs. with tnperina 

 base. 

 B. Capsule acute, opening at the apex by valves. 



Meadia, Linn. Common or Eastern Shooting Star. 

 Roots tilr..,;- : iv^ < fl in. long, crowded on a thickish 

 crown. -1' iii|i I, ..I, I.., ..J ,,r oblanceolate, entire or nearly 

 so, S"iie I . I I .ilituse, below tapering into more 



or less _ i petiole: scape 9-21 in. high : fls. 



fewtn 111111% 111 111 iii!il"-l. Penna. south and west.— /). 

 integnfiiliiim, Miehx. (B.M. 3622) is regarded by Grayas 

 probably synonymous, but in European horticulture it 

 seems to be loosely used to distinguish an entire-lvd. 

 from a dentate form. 



BB. Capsule obfttse, opening at or from the apex by 

 valve's. 



Jfiifreyi, Moore. Large : lvs. from narrowly or elon- 

 gated to obovate-spatulate : capsule oblong or cylindri- 

 cal, usually much surpassing the calyx. Pacific coast. 

 P.S. 16:1662, which represents a strong plant with erect 

 root-lvs. 1 ft. long, and purplish red fls. twice as large 

 as any cultivated before 1865-7. The name is sometimes 

 spelled Jeffrayi and Jeffreyanum. To this species. 

 Gray provisionally referred his vars. alplnum and 

 frigidum. The former appears to be the Z>. alpinum, 

 Hort. 



elUpticum, Nutt. (Z>. Meadia, var. brevifdlium, Gray). 

 Distinguished by its globular or short-ovoid capsule, 

 barely equaling or slightly surpassing the calyx ; also 

 by the short and blunt anthers : lvs. short, obovate or 

 oval, with cuueate base. Cal. and north. 



r;ir the base: 



W . _M. 



another trart of roiinii I , :■ i - 

 Erythe.i, 3:40 (IKO.-.i I : . ; i.. 



F. H. Horsford in Iwi:.. 



Another View of DoDECATHEo.v.-The speeies fall 

 into two well-marked groups : lowland species, which 

 flower in winter and rest during the long, dry summer; 

 and subalpine species, which rest in winter and flower 

 in the subalpine spring of July and August. Species of 

 the lowland group propagate by bulblets formed on the 

 crown of the root. In the following notes, only some of 

 the leading species of different regions are taken up. 

 They are not all in commerce. 



A. Ijvs., roots and scapes from a short, vertica I crown. 



B. Anthers long, sharp, convergent; capsules ralvately 



oiHuiiitj from Ihr top. 



ir spatulate-oblong, 

 regularly, of a light 

 11 pinkish. Ranges 



els. equally 



M§adia, I. inn. l,i-.iiM:u 



6-9 in. li.n- i i ■ 



green: IK- . 



from Maine i., [.. rh .,- i 

 The Allegheny in..ui,t:nii iii; 

 B. integrifolium of .Mieii\. 



cren4tum, Raf. St ut.i. 

 than the last ; f,.Iia-e ili . , 

 dentate: fls. incie nunuriii 

 riable in (-..Icr. liili:il.it- i 

 woodland imnlei- .if tlie iiii]i.r Mississippi prairie 

 region. 



cord&tum. Rat'. Very light green, thin foliage, each 

 leaf made up of broad, subcordate, crenate blade and 

 distinct though broad petiole twice the length of the 

 blade : fls. very few in the umbel, pale pink or white, 

 but with very dark purple ring at base. Cult, at Phila- 

 delphia early in the nineteenth century, and named and 

 described by Raflnesque, the habitat not then known, 

 but it is now known to inhabit the limestone region of 

 southern Illinois and ad.iacent Missouri, along with a 

 few other equally rare and local plants. A most distinct 

 species by its foliage. 



BB. Anthers obtuse, forming a column [not convergent). 



c. Capsules opening valvately : alpine species, or at 



least subalpine, blooming in summer, resting in 



paucifldrum, Greene. Fig. 730. Variable in size, 6-18 in. 

 high, but slender; hairs oblanceolate, entire, suberect, 



