Primula sect. Dodecatheon

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Primula sect. Dodecatheon
IMG 5511-Dodecatheon conjugens.jpg
Primula pauciflora (Dodecatheon pulchellum) (Fidalgo Island, Washington)
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Primula
Subgenus: Primula subg. Auriculastrum
Section: Primula sect. Dodecatheon
(L.) A.R.Mast & Reveal
Species

See text

Primula sect. Dodecatheon is a section of herbaceous flowering plants in the family Primulaceae. [1] [2] [3] [4] Primula species in this section were formerly placed in a separate genus, Dodecatheon. [2] The species have basal clumps of leaves and nodding flowers that are produced at the top of tall stems rising from where the leaves join the crown. The genus is largely confined to North America and part of northeastern Siberia. Common names include shooting star, [5] American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets, [6] and sailor caps. A few species are grown in gardens for their showy and unique flower display.

Contents

The stamens are thrust out with the sepals bent back. The flowers are pollinated by bees, which grab hold of the petals, and gather pollen by vibrating the flowers by buzzing their wings (buzz pollination). The vibration releases pollen from the anthers.

Taxonomy

Primula jeffreyi (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) (Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, Washington) Dodecatheon jeffreyi 0293.JPG
Primula jeffreyi (Dodecatheon jeffreyi) (Henry M. Jackson Wilderness, Washington)

Carl Linnaeus created the genus Dodecatheon in Species Plantarum in 1753. [7] Dodecatheon could be distinguished by its buzz-pollinated flowers, with reflexed petals and projecting styles and anthers. Repeated molecular phylogenetic studies agreed with morphological and cytological evidence that Dodecatheon was most closely related to one of the subgenera of Primula, P. subgen. Auriculastrum, so that if Dodecatheon is kept separate from Primula, then Primula is not monophyletic. Accordingly, in 2007, Austin R. Mast and James L. Reveal reduced the genus Dodecatheon to Primula sect. Dodecatheon of P. subgen. Auriculastrum, and provided names in Primula for all former Dodecatheon species. [8]

Species

17 Primula species are placed in Primula section Dodecatheon. [8]

ImageAccepted nameSynonym(s) in DodecatheonCommon nameDistribution
Dodecatheon austrofrigidum (8750232114).jpg Primula austrofrigida Dodecatheon austrofrigidumFrigid shootingstarCoast ranges of Oregon and Washington
Dodecatheonclevelandii1.jpg Primula clevelandii Dodecatheon clevelandiiPadre's shootingstarCalifornia
Dodecatheon conjugens flowers (3524783003).jpg Primula conjugens Dodecatheon conjugensBonneville shootingstarWyoming to Oregon
Jeweled Shooting Star (Dodecatheon amethystinum) 2.jpg Primula fassettii Dodecatheon amethystinumJewelled shootingstarUpper Midwest US, Pennsylvania
Dodecatheon redolens 4.jpg Primula fragrans Dodecatheon redolensScented shootingstarCalifornia, Nevada and Utah
Primula frenchii Dodecatheon frenchiiFrench's shootingstarSoutheastern US
Primula frigida (6186498025).jpg Primula frigida Dodecatheon frigidumWestern arctic shootingstarAlaska, NW Canada, Russia
Shooting Star (Dodecatheon hendersonii) (4361648078).jpg Primula hendersonii Dodecatheon hendersoniiBroad-leaved shootingstarCalifornia to Idaho
Jeffrey's Shooting Star (8539842757).jpg Primula jeffreyi Dodecatheon jeffreyiSierra shootingstarCalifornia
Dodecatheon dentatum.jpg Primula latiloba Dodecatheon dentatum, Dodecatheon latilobumWhite shootingstarWashington to Idaho
Dodecatheon by pfly.jpg Primula meadia Dodecatheon meadiaMead's shootingstarEastern US
Dodecatheon pulchellum ssp pulchellum 2.jpg Primula pauciflora Dodecatheon pauciflorum, Dodecatheon pulchellumPretty shooting star, few-flowered shooting starFrom Subarctic America to Mexico
Dodecatheon poeticum 7866.JPG Primula poetica Dodecatheon poeticumPoet's shootingstarWashington, Oregon
Primula standleyana Dodecatheon ellisiaeEllis' shootingstarArizona, New Mexico, W Mexico
Primula subalpina Dodecatheon subalpinumSierran shootingstarCalifornia
Dodecatheon alpinum.jpg Primula tetrandra Dodecatheon tetrandum, Dodecatheon alpinumAlpine shootingstarCalifornia
Primula utahensis Dodecatheon utahenseWasatch shootingstarBig Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

Cultivation and uses

Several species are found in cultivation, including Primula latiloba (Dodecatheon dentatum), Primula hendersonii (Dodecathon hendersonii) and Primula meadia (Dodecathon meadia).

Species of Primula sect. Dodecathon need good drainage and often dry soils in summer and winter when plants are dormant, in the spring plants like moist soils for best growth. Plants grown in dry soils tend to be smaller and lower growing. Since plants typically go summer dormant, seed raised plants need three or more years of growth before they are large enough to bloom. For some species, if given frequent light fertilization and kept moist, dormancy can be delayed resulting in larger plants after germination and the interval between germination and flowering decreased by a year or two. Another technique to shorten the interval between seed germination and flowering is to place the plants in a cooler after dormancy has set in, in late spring, and after a number of weeks move the plants to a shadehouse in midsummer where new growth will start. The flowers produce seeds via buzz pollination. [9]

They can be propagated by division in winter.

Several varieties of the Pacific Northwest are edible. [10]

References

  1. "Primula L." ipni.org. International Plant Names Index. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Primula L." Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew . Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  3. Reveal, James L. (2009). "Dodecatheon". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 8. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
  4. Oregon Flora Project: Dodecatheon
  5. Treatment from the Jepson Manual
  6. Cassidy, Frederic G.; Hall, Joan Houston, eds. (1996). Dictionary of American regional English. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. p. 470. ISBN   0-674-20519-7.
  7. "Dodecatheon L." The International Plant Names Index . Retrieved 2022-04-15.
  8. 1 2 Mast, Austin R. & Reveal, James L. (2007). "Transfer of Dodecatheon to Primula (Primulaceae)" . Brittonia. 59: 79–82. doi:10.1663/0007-196X(2007)59[79:TODTPP]2.0.CO;2. S2CID   36908769 . Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  9. Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 120. ISBN   0-87842-280-3. OCLC   25708726.
  10. Benoliel, Doug (2011). Northwest Foraging: The Classic Guide to Edible Plants of the Pacific Northwest (Rev. and updated ed.). Seattle, WA: Skipstone. p. 141. ISBN   978-1-59485-366-1. OCLC   668195076.