
Mosquito Bills, Sailor Caps
Primula hendersonii
NATIVE
Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)
- Eudicotyledon
- Eudicots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
- Primrose Family (Primulaceae)
- Perennial herb; summer deciduous
- Grows from rice-like bulblets
- Leaves
- Simple (not divided into leaflets)
- Smooth or toothed margins
- Arranged in a basal rosette
- Nodding flowers (turned downwards) on a tall, red or purple scape (a leafless stem rising from ground level)
- 4-5 showy petals are swept backward
- Petal lobes are pink to lavender (rarely white), with a broad white band and narrow yellow and maroon bands at the base
- Stigma (pollen-receiving part of the pistil/female structure) and sharply-pointed dark stamens (male flower parts) extend beyond the petals
- Ovary superior (above the attachment of other flower parts)
- Fruit is a many-seeded capsule (a dry, multi-chambered fruit that is dehiscent [splits open])
- Height 4-12 in.
Distribution
- Native to California
- Grows in a variety of habitats, including grasslands, foothill woodlands, and chaparral
- See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
- Outside California, grows from southern British Columbia south into California and east into Idaho
- Grows at elevations to 6,235 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)
- Wildlife
- Pollen source to bumble bees and other bee species
- Native people
- Flowers used decoratively and as a sleep aid
- Leaves used as an eye wash or oral gargle
- CAUTION – Leaves and roots can be eaten when roasted or boiled, but are poisonous when eaten raw
Name Derivation
- Primula (PRIM-oo-la) – from the Medieval Latin phrase prīmula vēris, “little first one of the spring,” referring to the plant’s early flowering
- hendersonii (hen-der-SONE-ee-eye) – named after Louis Fourniquet Henderson (1853-1942), whom the Native Plant Society of Oregon dubbed the “Grand Old Man of Northwest Botany”
- Shooting star – for the form of the flower
- The alternative common name mosquito bills refers to the narrow, sharp-pointed anthers
Notes
- Flower turns upward following pollination
- Pollinated most effectively by sonication or “buzz pollination”; see Primrose family for details and buzz pollination video
- Plants germinated from seed may take 3-5 years to produce flowers (Schmidt 1980)

ID Tips
- May be confused with padre’s shooting star (P. clevelandii var. patula)
- Henderson’s shooting star is more commonly found at Edgewood
- Purplish-red stem
- Filament tubes, which surround the stalk of the stamens (male flower parts), are slender
- Anthers (pollen-producing parts) are sharp-pointed
- Leaves roundish (elliptic to ovate) and smooth edged
- Padre’s shooting star is less commonly found at Edgewood
- Green stem
- Filament tubes are stout, often with yellow spots creating a band (look like a bumblebee!)
- Anthers are blunt-tipped
- Leaves more blade-like (oblanceolate) and wavy edged
- Henderson’s shooting star is more commonly found at Edgewood
- Jepson notes that shooting stars are highly variable and may hybridize
- Check out this short Jepson video for more ID tips

© TCorelli
At Edgewood
- Found in grasslands and woodlands
- See iNaturalist for observations of this plant
- Flowers February – April
Specific References
Wikipedia. 2018. Primula hendersonii. Wikipedia.org.
Schmidt, M. 1980. Growing Native California Plants. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. Pg. 104.