in botany, any flowering plant of the genus Dodecatheon (family Primulaceae), with about 14 species, mostly native to western North America but with one species in Siberia. Several species are cultivated—often in rock gardens—for their attractive flowers. The low-growing shooting stars are perennial herbs with wavy-margined leaves growing in a rosette. The flowers, which are commonly reddish, purple, lilac, pink, or white, grow in a small cluster at the end of a leafless stalk (scape). The five lobes of the corolla (the structure formed by the petals) are turned backward, and the flowers point downward.