FAMILIES OF PLANTS 99 
green or purplish in color and five-lobed, and the fruit is purplish 
black. 
Western bog blueberry ( Vaccinium occidentals) can readily be dis¬ 
tinguished from the preceding species by the fact that the corolla is 
only four-lobed. Fruit small, blue, covered with bloom. 
PRIMROSE FAMILY (PRIMULACEAE) 
A family of herbs with simple leaves and many members with 
very beautiful flowers. The flowers have a numerical plan of five. 
The sepals are united to form a five dobed calyx, and the petals are 
likewise united to form a tubu¬ 
lar, five dobed corolla. The five 
stamens are attached to the tube 
of the corolla, and there is a single 
pistil. The fruit is a capsule. In 
the members of the family de¬ 
scribed here the leaves are all basal. 
Androsace septenirionalis has 
lance-shaped, irregularly toothed 
leaves. The flowering stems are 3 
to 8. inches high, and the flowers 
are white or pink. 
Androsace filiformis is similar, 
but the leaves are ovate and the 
capsule is much longer. 
Androsace diffusa with the co¬ 
rolla shorter than the calyx has also 
been reported as occurring in the 
park. 
Dodecatheon pauciflorum,—A smooth, perennial herb with entire, 
basal leaves and several flowers in an umbel at the end of a naked 
stem. The calyx and corolla are both five-lobed or parted, and 
both have the lobes turned back while the flower is in bloom. 
The five stamens are borne on the short corolla-tube and project 
well beyond it. They have short, flat filaments that are somewhat 
united. The style is slender and extends beyond the stamens. The 
corolla-lobes are lilac-purple, while the tube is yellow with a ring of 
dark purple near the top. 
Southern shootingstar (Dodecatheon radicatum ) is similar except in 
the color of the flowers which are pinkish or bluish violet. 
Dodecatheon conjugens and D. cusickii have also been reported as 
occurring in the park. 
The genus is commonly known as shootingstar. 
Figure 75.— Shootingstar. Lilac-purple. 
Photograph by Dr. Frank R. Oastler. 
