Common names include shooting star,[5] American cowslip, mosquito bills, mad violets,[6] and sailor caps.

[7] Dodecatheon could be distinguished by its buzz-pollinated flowers, with reflexed petals and projecting styles and anthers.

Repeated molecular phylogenetic studies agreed with morphological and cytological evidence that Dodecatheon was most closely related to one of the subgenera of Primula, P. subgen.

Accordingly, in 2007, Austin R. Mast and James L. Reveal reduced the genus Dodecatheon to Primula sect.

Another technique to shorten the interval between seed germination and flowering is to place the plants in a cooler after dormancy has set in, in late spring, and after a number of weeks move the plants to a shadehouse in midsummer where new growth will start.