Much like no. 1 [Dodecatheon meadia L.], but usually smaller and blooming 2 weeks later; lvs not tinged with red toward the base; cor-lobes mostly deep rose-purple, rarely white, averaging smaller than in no. 1; fr thickest near the middle, the walls thin and fragile; 2n=44. Moist hillsides; driftless area of sw. Wis. and adj. Minn. to nw. Ill.; irregularly from e. Mo. to Pa., s. of the glacial border; throughout the w. cordillera. Apr.-June. Our plants are var. radicatum. (D. amethystinum)

Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.

©The New York Botanical Garden. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

PLANT: 15-40 cm tall. LEAVES: oblanceolate to elliptic, the margins entire to slightly dentate, crenate, or sinuate. FLOWERS: pink to purple; calyx 5.3-8.2 mm long, the lobes 5; corolla (reflexed portion) 13-20 mm long, the lobes 5; stamens 5, the filaments (1-)1.5-2 mm long; stigma not much wider than the style. 2n = 44, 88. NOTES: 3 subspp.; s AK and Can. s to Mex. and in e US s to AR.