March 2025  by Naturalist Candace Rho

What is Your Favorite Spring Flower? 

Introduction

First, I should introduce myself! My name is Candace Rho, and I am the new Naturalist for LARPD's Open Space Department at Sycamore Grove Park. I would love to meet you; feel free to stop by the Wetmore Entrance and see if the Nature Center is open. I might be inside with coloring sheets and/or an animal ambassador!

A Personal Discovery of Shooting Stars

Back to the article: My favorite spring flower is Shooting Stars. I had no idea these flowers existed until about a year and a half ago when I started working at Lake Del Valle as an Interpretive Student Aide with the East Bay Regional Park District. I hope my article will give the local community a new appreciation for native flora, encourage people to walk in our open spaces, and try to find these striking flowers.  

What Are Shooting Stars?

Shooting Stars are a gorgeous and unique perennial flower found at Sycamore Grove Park! I invite you to explore our new trail, the Patterson Ranch Trail, and see if you can find Shooting Stars near the hiking path.

Physical Description and Blooming Season

Shooting Stars get their name from the clustered petals surrounding their yellow stamens, which converge to a point to give the beautiful plant the appearance of a shooting star. These perennial flowers return every year; the Shooting Stars bloom each winter and spring, while annual plants live for one season and will die off. Shooting Stars have names such as Mosquito Bills, Sailor Caps, Prairie Pointers, Rooster Heads, Indian Chief, Mad Violets, Wild Cyclamen, American Cowslip, and Pride of Ohio.

Shooting Stars have five petals that vary from white to pink, light purple, or magenta, with a contrasting yellow surrounding their dark center. They develop in winter and bloom from February to April. This beautiful plant thrives in moist soil, uncrowded places like meadows, and along trails. Please do not disturb these vulnerable flowers and their pollinators and appreciate them from the hiking trail. 

Pollination and Environmental Factor

Shooting Stars are specially designed for pollinators such as bees. These flowers are native to North America and are dependent on fire. Small fire/controlled burns in late summer and fall can help this plant by burning away sneaky vegetation that chokes out the beautiful flower in the springtime. Shooting Stars cannot tolerate overly crowded areas; invasive plants and invasive grasses especially harm our local Shooting Star populations because they overtake the meadows. I want to highlight and credit the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department for conducting maintenance burns at Sycamore Grove Park. Small and controlled fires give native plants, such as Shooting Stars, a fighting chance against invasive non-native species.

Adaptability and Growth Conditions

Shooting Stars can be resilient and even grow through some groundcovers if located near other slow-growing plants that will cover up the foliage later in the year. These striking flowers enjoy moist meadows, prairies, and open woods. Shooting Star seedlings grow very slowly and take 3 – 4 years to flower. Fortunately, we do not have to worry about Shooting Stars being grazed by deer because the deer do not like it! Shooting Stars love partial shade but tolerate full sun in cooler regions and full shade if they have a moist microclimate in the spring. Shooting Stars can develop in clay soil but prefer humusy, rocky, or sandy, well-drained soils. Shooting Stars naturally die back in summer, so summer droughts do not impact them, and it does not depend on a dry dormant period like most of our native western species do.

Identifying Shooting Stars by Color and Species

The color of Shooting Star flowers and the rest of the plant can help us identify what species they are. For example, the species Dodecatheon meadia album produces snow-white blooms; whereas Dodecatheon jeffreyi, found in the Western states up to Alaska, produces hairy, dark stems and pinkish-purple flowers; Dodecatheon frigidum has magenta stems to match its magenta flowers with dark purple stamens that contrast the petals and stems; while Dodecatheon pulchellum has purple flowers with bold yellow noses and red stems. 

In the Pacific Northwest, we can witness the spectrum of purples. Shooting Stars in the South are mainly pure white, and there is still spectacular color variation across its range.

Flower Structure and Seed Dispersal

The base of the fused petals has uneven rings of white, yellow, and maroon around it. Bumblebees and some other native bees visit the flowers to collect pollen, but not honeybees, as the flowers do not provide nectar. Once the Shooting Star has been pollinated, the oval/cylindrical mahogany-colored capsules contain very fine seeds that depend on the wind to disperse them from the capsules.

Yay! You have reached the end of the article and are now ready to explore and hike through Sycamore Grove Park to try to find Shooting Stars. Now you know what my favorite springtime flower is. What is your favorite spring flower, and why? Find me at the park and let me know!    

References 

Ellis, M. (2021). Dodecatheon species – Learn about different shooting star plants.  

• Gardening Know How: Dodecatheon Species – Learn About Different Shooting Star Plants 

Mahr, S. Shooting star,  Dodecathean meadia.

• Wisconsin Horticulture. University of  Wisconsin – Madison:  Shooting star, Dodecatheon meadia