Primula clevelandii

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

| name = Padre's shooting star

| image = Padre's Shooting Star imported from iNaturalist photo 22212382 on 8 February 2024.jpg

| image_caption = San Benito County, California, 2009

| genus = Primula

| parent = Primula sect. Dodecatheon

| species = clevelandii

| authority = (Greene) A.R.Mast & Reveal

| synonyms =

{{Species list

| Dodecatheon clevelandii | Greene

| Meadia clevelandii | (Greene) Kuntze

}}

| synonyms_ref = {{cite POWO |id=60446849-2 |title=Primula clevelandii |accessdate=15 April 2022}}

}}

Primula clevelandii, with the common name of Padre's shooting star, is a species of primrose.{{Jepson eFlora|98404|Primula clevelandii |first1=Thomas J. |last1=Rosatti |first2=Sylvia |last2=Kelso |date=2013 |access-date=2014-11-20}}

Its specific epithet clevelandii honors 19th-century San Diego–based plant collector and lawyer Daniel Cleveland.{{cite web |title=Who was Salvia clevelandii named for? |url=https://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=3864 |website= Smarty Plant |publisher=Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the University of Texas at Austin |quote=[T]he author of the species chose to honor Daniel Cleveland, a nineteenth-century lawyer, amateur botanist, plant collector and co-founder of the San Diego Society of Natural History. [Besides Salvia clevelandii,] there are a number of other species named in his honor, including: Cheilanthes clevelandii, Chorizanthe clevelandii, Cryptantha clevelandii, Dodecatheon clevelandii, Horkelia clevelandii, Malacothrix clevelandii, Mimulus clevelandii, Muilla clevelandii, Nicotiana clevelandii and Penstemon clevelandii. Moreover, the monotypic Mexican genus, Clevelandia (now included in Castilleja) was also named in Mr. Cleveland's honor.}}

Description

Primula clevelandii is spring deciduous, dying back to the ground after the rains cease. It has basal clumps of leaves up to 40 centimeters long.

The flowers are magenta to deep lavender to white. They are nodding flowers each about an inch long on stems up to a foot tall.

This species hybridizes with Primula hendersonii, from which it can be distinguished by its green stem.

Subspecies

Named subspecies include:{{Calflora|Dodecatheon clevelandii}}

  • Primula clevelandii ssp. clevelandii – The autonymous subspecies. In Baja California, it is found in the northwestern part of the state at low elevations from Tijuana south to El Rosario.{{Cite journal |last1=Rebman |first1=J. P. |last2=Gibson |first2=J. |last3=Rich |first3=K. |date=2016 |title=Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico |url=http://sdplantatlas.org/pdffiles/BajaChecklist2016.pdf |journal=San Diego Society of Natural History |volume=45 |pages=239}}
  • Primula clevelandii ssp. gracilis – Known commonly as the island shooting star. Found on the California Channel Islands and Guadalupe Island in Mexico.
  • Primula clevelandii ssp. insularis
  • Primula clevelandii ssp. patula

Distribution

The plant is native to California and Baja California. It is generally found in open grassland areas.

References

{{Reflist}}

  • "Wildflowers of Henry W. Coe State Park" brochure, Larry Ulrich, 2002