Padre's Shooting Star

Primula clevelandii

Apart from my friends and family, the thing I miss most about California is the wildflowers in the spring. The first one I remember learning was the Shooting Star because it looks just like its name suggests. I was participating in a National Park Service-led hike of the Backbone Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains. Ten feet from the trailhead of the third leg of our hike, there they were in all their glory! They were not the most impressive specimens I have seen, but they were the most memorable.
 
Shooting Stars normally pop up in early March, but according to my most trusted California wildflower source, they are only just now blooming to the delayed rains.

They definitely grow in the Santa Monica Mountains, in some places in crazy numbers, but you can also find them throughout California and northern Baja Mexico in Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, Oak Woodlands, and Grasslands. I won’t reveal specifically where they are because I don’t want them all getting crushed by some influencer who needs a photo of herself lying in the flowers. (This happens A LOT!)
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There are other species of Shooting Stars throughout the country. They all look similar and are in the primrose family. They come in a variety of shades of pinks and purples and are just such a fun flower to find. Happy hunting!

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