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Chinese-houses, white collinsia

Habit Annuals 15–40 cm.
Stems

erect to ascending.

Leaf

blades narrowly oblong to widely lanceolate, margins entire, rarely serrate.

Inflorescences

finely hairy to shaggy, usually finely glandular;

whorls 2–5 on main axis, fewer on lateral branches;

nodes (2 or)3–7-flowered;

flowers crowded;

distalmost bracts linear, 5–6 mm.

Pedicels

ascending to spreading, shorter than calyx, not or scarcely visible.

Flowers

calyx lobes oblong to lanceolate, surpassing capsule, apex subacute to acute;

corolla tinged bluish, distally violet to magenta, banner purple-dotted near base, 11–15 mm, banner usually sparsely hairy, keel usually sparsely hairy at tip;

banner length 0.7–0.9 times wings, lobe base without folds, tube longer than diam., hairy inside, lobes obovate, notched;

stamens: abaxial filaments glabrous, rarely hairy, adaxials hairy, basal spur 0(or 1).

Seeds

8–16, round to oval, flattened, 1.5–2 mm, margins slightly thickened, inrolled.

2n

= 14.

Collinsia concolor

Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun.
Habitat Openings and margins of chaparral, oak or pinyon-juniper woodlands.
Elevation 300–1700 m. (1000–5600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; Mexico (Baja California)
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Collinsia concolor grows in dry habitats of the Peninsular Ranges. Flowers in tiers of dense whorls with bluish-tinged (or blue-blotched) corollas, a triangular region of purple spots in the adaxial lip, and lack of curved appendages at the bases of the filaments are unique to it. It is frequently confused with C. heterophylla because of morphological similarity and range overlap.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 17, p. 74.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Collinsia
Sibling taxa
C. antonina, C. bartsiifolia, C. callosa, C. childii, C. corymbosa, C. grandiflora, C. greenei, C. heterophylla, C. latifolia, C. linearis, C. multicolor, C. parryi, C. parviflora, C. rattanii, C. sparsiflora, C. tinctoria, C. torreyi, C. verna, C. violacea, C. wrightii
Name authority Greene: Erythea 3: 49. (1895)
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