The Dawes Arboretum

Common name: eastern shooting-star, pride-of-Ohio

Family: Primulaceae (primrose family)

Synonym: Primula meadia

Distribution: e. United States

Hardiness: USDA Zone 4

Life form: Herbaceous perennial

Comments: Eastern shooting-star is a lovely spring wildflower that typically grows in open woods, glades, meadows, and prairies. The plant forms a basal rosette from which one to four flowering stalks arise bearing an umbel of 8-20 nodding flowers. The flowers have five petals that are swept backwards (reflexed) and the yellow stamens cluster to form a point so that overall they have the appearance of shooting stars plummeting towards the ground. Plants have white or light pink flowers that appear in May. They are commonly pollinated by bumblebees that obtain pollen through "buzz pollination" - the rapid vibration of a bee's thoracic muscles.