Gordon Beningfield (British, 1936 - 1998) "Shooting Star" Signed lower right. Original Watercolor painting on Illustration Board. Provenance: Collection of James A. Helzer (1946-2008), Founder of Unicover Corporation. This painting was originally published on the Fleetwood First Day Cover for the U.S. 29c Shooting Star stamp issued July 24, 1992. An early spring wildflower of open woods, meadows and moist prairies, shooting star blooms from April to June in the eastern United States. Often blanketing large areas, shooting star's dainty flower clusters rise on a leafless stalk from a basal rosette of leaves. The backwardly curved pink or white petals and fused stamens suggest the streaming trail of a meteor, hence the common name. Bees are the chief pollinators of shooting star. Widespread throughout the tallgrass prairie, shooting stars were called "prairie pointers" by early settlers. The genus name, Dodecatheon, comes from the Greek words dodeca -- 12 -- and theos -- god. Because of their unusual beauty, the flowers were thought to be under the care of 12 superior gods. The eastern species, D. meadia, honors Richard Mead, an English physician and patron of the naturalist Mark Catesby who collected North American plants in the early 1700s. About 15 species of Dodecatheon occur in the United States. Image Size: 7 x 6 in. Overall Size: 11.25 x 10.25 in. Unframed. (B13111) See More