Shooting Stars

Here's another local wildflower that was blooming in the same meadow as pictured yesterday. These are commonly called Shooting Stars, one of many species of Dodecatheon.

Shooting Stars

I took a stroll through Highrock Park in Esquimalt yesterday and was rewarded by sighting a few of these tiny, early-blooming, spring wildflowers called Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii).

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I take this opportunity to wish all visitors here a happy Easter weekend.

Shooting Stars

I went up to Highrock Park a few days ago to check if any new spring wildflowers had appeared. Above is the one I was specifically looking for, the lovely little magenta blooms called Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii).

Shooting Stars

We tend to be clock and calendar oriented when it comes to the passage of time. It's interesting to consider that many cultures existed that had no accurate means of keeping track of time or dates, and when activities were organized around natural, more organic events or cycles. Since I've begun to notice the various plants and animals in my environment I've become more aware of natural cycles such as the progression of blooming wildflowers in the spring. These are not quite predictable since they happen in relation to the weather for the last year or so. However, what seems predictable is the sequence of which flowers come first and which come later. Here's another early one, these lovely little Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon). I've been waiting for these to bloom and was rewarded during a visit to Highrock Park earlier this week.

Spring Wildflowers Recap

I am always so happy to see spring wildflowers arrive that I often post the earliest photos I take rather than the best. So, here is a bit of a revisiting of some of this spring's early photos. Above are some Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii). This photo was taken near the summit of Mount Douglas and the Shooting Stars blooming there grow surrounded by low groundcover like moss. This makes the basal leaves much more visible so it is possible to get a good picture of the whole plant rather than just the flower. Below is a Satinflower (Olsynium douglasii). Generally the blooms on these are so close to the ground and droop downwards so much that it is impossible to see the inside of the flower. This one is lifted just enough to enable a good view of the interior. Also, the entire plant is visible.Finally, earlier this year I posted an early photo of a Grape Hyacinth (genus Muscari) in bud. Below you can see what they are like now in glorious profusion. These (and the Satinflower above) were photographed in Highrock Park here in Vic West.

Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii)

Whenever I head up to Highrock Park in the early spring some of the first wildflowers I look for are these Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii). They come up in the same places every year. Recently when I checked their usual locations, none of them were visible yet but just as I was about to leave the park I spotted their lovely magenta/purple flowers in the grass near the path.

Early Bloomers 2

Also while on my first spring flowers walk in Highrock Park I found these Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii). These are named after "one of Oregon's most important early botanists," Louis Fourniquet Henderson.

Shooting Stars ( Dodecatheon hendersonii)

I arrived at Highrock Park just after the sun had risen and wandered around looking for some birds - there are many species I often see but have not successfully photographed yet. After a bit I sat down on a rock in the sun to drink my thermos of coffee. I saw several people walking pony-sized dogs. It's an off-leash park and sometimes these dogs are quite aggressive so I jumped when I heard a sudden heavy thumping behind me. It was a deer, a young doe, leaping through the underbrush. She was gone by the time I got the camera to my face so no picture. But what a pleasant surprise in this small urban park. I don't know if Victoria is particularly blessed with wild-life or whether I've just begun to notice it but yesterday was remarkable when I consider the animals that I saw. After I left Highrock Park I went to Saxe Point and there I saw a half-dozen Harbour Seals basking on the rocks and a small otter scurrying along the shore. In addition to these mammals I saw about ten different species of birds including Bald Eagles, Northern Flickers, Crested Cormorants, Canada Geese, Common Mergansers, several species of sparrows and wrens, robins, crows, starlings, and a yet to be identified species of duck. An additional treat encountered in Highrock Park, pictured above, were the first blooms of one of my favorite spring wildflowers, commonly called Shooting Stars (Dodecatheon hendersonii).

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I love the kind of information found in Lewis J. Clark's description of Shooting Stars in his Wild flowers of British Columbia:

Dodecatheon. Say it: savour it. Would that all plant names were so pleasant to the ear! Dodecatheon derives from the Greek dodeka, twelve, and theoi, gods. Pliny (and much later Linnaeus) imagined, in the cluster of crowned flowers, an assembly of the Olympian deities.