Primula tetrandra

Alpine shooting star, Alpine Shooting Star

Family: Primulaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Alpine shooting star is a California native perennial found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, Sierra Nevada, northern Transverse Ranges, San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, Warner Mountains, and southeastern Sierra Nevada in boggy meadows and streambanks at elevations of 1,700 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces magenta to lavender flowers with lobes 8 to 16 millimeters long in compact clusters. Growing with slender stems 4 to 30 centimeters tall, it appears generally smooth and delicate. Its leaves are linear to linear-oblanceolate, 2 to 20 centimeters long, tapering smoothly to the base. The flowers feature distinctive black filaments and purple-black anthers, creating a striking contrast with the vibrant magenta petals.

Habitat: Boggy meadows, streambanks

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 1700-3400 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, SNH, n WTR (Mount Pinos), SnBr, SnJt, Wrn, SNE

California counties: Mono, Lassen, San Bernardino

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.