Primula clevelandii explained

Primula clevelandii, with the common name of Padre's shooting star, is a species of primrose.

Its specific epithet clevelandii honors 19th-century San Diego-based plant collector and lawyer Daniel Cleveland.^[1]

Description

Primula clevelandii is spring deciduous, dying back to the ground after the rains cease. It has basal clumps of leaves up to 40 centimeters long.

The flowers are magenta to deep lavender to white. They are nodding flowers each about an inch long on stems up to a foot tall.

This species hybridizes with Primula hendersonii, from which it can be distinguished by its green stem.

Named subspecies include:

Primula clevelandii ssp. clevelandii — The autonymous subspecies. In Baja California, it is found in the northwestern part of the state at low elevations from Tijuana south to El Rosario.^[2]
Primula clevelandii ssp. gracilis — Known commonly as the island shooting star. Found on the California Channel Islands and Guadalupe Island in Mexico.
Primula clevelandii ssp. insularis
Primula clevelandii ssp. patula

The plant is native to California and Baja California. It is generally found in open grassland areas.

Web site: Who was Salvia clevelandii named for? . Smarty Plant . Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, the University of Texas at Austin . [T]he author of the species chose to honor Daniel Cleveland, a nineteenth-century lawyer, amateur botanist, plant collector and co-founder of the San Diego Society of Natural History. [Besides ''[[Salvia clevelandii]],] there are a number of other species named in his honor, including: Cheilanthes clevelandii, Chorizanthe clevelandii, Cryptantha clevelandii, Dodecatheon clevelandii, Horkelia clevelandii, Malacothrix clevelandii, Mimulus clevelandii, Muilla clevelandii, Nicotiana clevelandii and Penstemon clevelandii. Moreover, the monotypic Mexican genus, Clevelandia (now included in Castilleja) was also named in Mr. Cleveland's honor..
Rebman . J. P. . Gibson . J. . Rich . K. . 2016 . Annotated checklist of the vascular plants of Baja California, Mexico . San Diego Society of Natural History . 45 . 239.