Here's another spring perennial from the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden in DC. Seriously, if you need some inspiration for spring perennials, take a walk through these lovely gardens. This plant is Dodecatheon meadia or shooting star. Its basal rosette of leaves (leaves which have some relief to them) and elongated stems on which the flowers sit (those stems are called peduncles) are typical characteristics to the primrose family (Primulaceae), to which this plant belongs.
It's a gorgeous plant and native to boot. It's found in the eastern United States from Georgia to Michigan. It's typically found in wooded shady locations and prefers moist soils. It has a high tolerance to alkaline soils as well. It aestivates by mid-summer (i.e., it loses its leaves and goes dormant) but spreads easily and can be divided without trouble. It is endangered in some states, primarily due to overcollection.
The common name, shooting star, is pretty obvious. But Dodecatheon -- that's a bit more obscure. Evidently, a similar primrose was christened with this name by Pliny the Elder himself (one of the first botanists). He named it because he believed this plant was under watch by gods, twelve of them in fact. In Greek, dodeca means twelve and theos means God.
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