Darkthroat Shootingstar (Primula pauciflora (Durand) A.R.Mast & Reveal)

Also classified as Dodecatheon pauciflorum (Durand) Greene, Dodecatheon pulchellum (Raf.) Merr.

Most authorities refer to this species as Dodecatheon pulchellum. We do not know why this name was given preference over Dodecatheon pauciflorum, which is an older name, but for some reason all sources we found gave preference to the name Dodecatheon pulchellum. The Dodecatheon genus was recently reclassified into Primula in order to make Primula monophyletic. Normally, this species would retain its epithet, but in this case, the name Primula pulchella was already in use, dating to 1888 to describe a species native to South-Central China and Tibet. As such this species was given the epithet pauciflora from the other name Dodecatheon pauciflorum. There are several subtaxa of this taxon, with most authorities treating them as varieties. BONAP recognizes only four, but FNA and POWO recognize seven.