Dodecatheon

North American plants of damp places ranging from moist valleys in the Prairies to high mountain meadows of the Rockies and western ranges, even up to the Arctic. Around 30 species, resembling each other, but with a range of heights. Colour ranges from white to rose and purple.  Their beauty come from the down turned, dart-like flowers, poised on short arching stalks, which spring from atop each stem. Basal clumps of smooth, sometimes bronzey coloured, foliage are also rather neat.

The protruding stamens are hollow and do not release their pollen when brushed. The release of pollen relies on vibration from the wings of certain pollinators, a process termed buzz-pollination. So, honeybees cannot pollinate them whereas some bumblebees and solitary bees can. Some sources now have placed the genus Dodecatheon, into Primula.