Native Plants

Plant Database

Search for native plants by scientific name, common name or family. If you are not sure what you are looking for, try the Combination Search or our Recommended Species lists.

Enter a Plant Name:
Or you can choose a plant family:

Gammill, Lynn Crosby

Dodecatheon jeffreyi

Dodecatheon jeffreyi Van Houtte

Sierra Shootingstar, Tall Mountain Shootingstar

Primulaceae (Primrose Family)

Synonym(s):

USDA Symbol: DOJE

USDA Native Status: L48 (N), AK (N), CAN (N)

The "giant" of shootingstars, this colony-forming perennial bears basal rosettes of long, rounded leaves subtending a naked flowering stem to 2 ft. tall, or more. Red-purple, cyclamen-like flowers nod in clusters from the top of the stem. Four or five showy petals are swept backward, and the beak-like dark stamens and stigma shoot forward and downward.

From the Image Gallery

1 photo(s) available in the Image Gallery

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Perennial
Habit: Herb
Leaf Complexity: Simple
Breeding System: Flowers Bisexual
Fruit Type: Capsule
Size Notes: Up to about 30 inches tall, often shorter.

Bloom Information

Bloom Color: White , Red , Pink , Yellow , Purple
Bloom Time: Jun , Jul , Aug

Distribution

USA: AK , CA , ID , MT , OR , WA , WY
Canada: BC
Native Distribution: Mts. of n. & c. CA to s. AK & MT
Native Habitat: Wet mt. sites; 2300-10,000 ft.

Growing Conditions

Light Requirement: Part Shade
Soil Moisture: Wet
Soil Description: Moist to wet soils.
Conditions Comments: Flowers have a white ring around base where few flowered shooting star has two yellow rings around the base.

Benefit

Conspicuous Flowers: yes

Value to Beneficial Insects

Special Value to Bumble Bees

This information was provided by the Pollinator Program at The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation.

Propagation

Description: Propagate by division or seed.
Commercially Avail: yes

Find Seed or Plants

Find seed sources for this species at the Native Seed Network.

View propagation protocol from Native Plants Network.

National Wetland Indicator Status

Region:	AGCP	AK	AW	CB	EMP	GP	HI	MW	NCNE	WMVE
Status:		FACW	FACW							FACW

This information is derived from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Wetland Plant List, Version 3.1 (Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241). Click here for map of regions.

From the National Organizations Directory

According to the species list provided by Affiliate Organizations, this plant is on display at the following locations:

Native Seed Network - Corvallis, OR

Web Reference

Webref 38 - Flora of North America (2019) Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
Webref 23 - Southwest Environmental Information Network (2009) SEINet - Arizona Chapter

Additional resources

USDA: Find Dodecatheon jeffreyi in USDA Plants
FNA: Find Dodecatheon jeffreyi in the Flora of North America (if available)
Google: Search Google for Dodecatheon jeffreyi

Metadata

Record Modified: 2023-02-07
Research By: TWC Staff

Go back