Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 12, 2026

Primula frigida

Primula frigida, synonym Dodecatheon frigidum, commonly called the western arctic shootingstar, is a plant species found in arctic and subarctic regions in the northwestern part of North America and in Asiatic Russia.

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Jul 12, 2026
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Western arctic shootingstar
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Spermatophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Primulaceae
Genus: Primula
Section: Primula sect. Dodecatheon
Species:
P. frigida
Binomial name
Primula frigida
(Cham. & Schltdl.) A.R.Mast & Reveal
Synonyms1
  • Dodecatheon frigidum Cham. & Schltdl.
  • Dodecatheon meadia var. frigidum (Cham. & Schltdl.) Hook. f.

Primula frigida, synonym Dodecatheon frigidum,1 commonly called the western arctic shootingstar, is a plant species found in arctic and subarctic regions in the northwestern part of North America and in Asiatic Russia.

Description

Primula frigida is an herbaceous perennial up to 40 cm (16 inches) tall, spreading by means of underground rhizomes. Each shoot produces 2-7 flowers, usually pink to magenta with a white center.234

Distribution

It is common across much of Alaska, and has also been reported from Yukon, Northwest Territories, British Columbia, northern Saskatchewan, and on the Chukotsk Peninsula in the Russian Far East (often erroneously regarded as part of Siberia). It is usually found in moist areas such as bogs, lakeshores, riverbanks, moist meadows, and heathcliff tundras. It can found on melting snow on or near permafrost.56789

References

References

  1. "Primula frigida (Cham. & Schltdl.) A.R.Mast & Reveal". Plants of the World Online. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 2022-04-14.
  2. Chamisso & Schlechtendal, Linnaea. 1: 222. 1826.
  3. Thompson, H. J. 1953. The biosystematics of Dodecatheon. Contr. Dudley Herb. 4: 73-154.
  4. Mast, Austin R., & Reveal, James Lauritz. Brittonia 59(1): 81. 2007.
  5. Flora of North America, v 8 p 277.
  6. Cody, W. J. 1996. Flora of Yukon Territory i–xvii, 1–669. NRC Research Press, Ottawa.
  7. Hultén, E. 1968. Flora of Alaska i–xxi, 1–1008. Stanford University Press, Stanford.
  8. Porsild, A. E. & W. Cody. 1980. Vascular Plants of the Continental Northwest Territories of Canada i–viii, 1–607. National Museum of Natural Sciences, Ottawa.
  9. Welsh, S. L. 1974. Anderson's Flora of Alaska and Adjacent Parts of Canada i–xvi, 1–724. Brigham Young University Press, Provo.