Flora of North America species comparison

The green links below add additional plants to the comparison table. Blue links lead to other Web sites.
enable glossary links

Collinsia corymbosa

Collinsia wrightii

round-head Chinese-houses

Wright's blue-eyed Mary
Habit Annuals 5–25 cm. Annuals 5–25 cm.
Stems

decumbent.

erect.
Leaf

blades lanceolate to ovate, margins crenate, abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial subglabrous or finely gray-hairy.

blades linear to elliptic, margins entire or serrate.
Inflorescences

sparsely and finely glandular;

whorl 1 per branch;

nodes (1–)3–10-flowered;

flowers crowded;

distalmost bracts ovate, 5–9 mm.

densely glandular;

nodes (1–)3–6-flowered;

flowers not crowded;

distalmost bracts linear, 0–2 mm.
Pedicels

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

ascending to spreading, sometimes reflexed, pendent and/or sigmoid in fruit, usually longer than calyx, visible.
Flowers

calyx lobes oblong to ovate, surpassing capsule, apex rounded;

corolla usually whitish, 14–22 mm, wings sparsely and finely glandular, not hairy;

banner length 0.1–0.3(–0.4) times wings, lobe base without folds, reflexed portion 1 mm, shorter than basal portion, brownish, not red-banded;

stamens: filaments hairy, basal spur 0.

calyx lobes narrowly deltate to lanceolate, equal to capsule, apex subacute to rounded;

corolla blue-violet to purple, banner white, cream, or pale lilac, 4–6(–9) mm, sparsely glandular;

banner length 0.7–0.8 times wings, lobe base without folds, wings surpassing keel by 1–2 mm;

stamens: abaxial filaments glabrous, adaxials glabrous or hairy at base, basal spur 0.
Seeds

8–16, oblong to oval, 2–2.5 mm, margins thickened, inrolled.

2, ovate to oblong, sometimes compressed, 2–2.5 mm, margins thickened, inrolled.
2n

= 14.

Collinsia corymbosa

Collinsia wrightii
Phenology Flowering Apr–Jun. Flowering May–Aug.
Habitat Coastal sand dunes. Coniferous forests, usually in sandy, granitic soils.
Elevation 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) 800–4000 m. (2600–13100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA
Discussion

Collinsia corymbosa is known from Mendocino County. Specimens from other sites identified as C. corymbosa are C. bartsiifolia var. hirsuta. A phylogenetic study using DNA showed evidence of a close relationship between C. corymbosa and C. bartsiifolia (B. G. Baldwin et al. 2011).

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

A report of Collinsia wrightii (as C. torreyi var. wrightii) from western Nevada (J. T. Kartesz 1987) has not been verified by the author.

Collinsia wrightii is often confused with C. parviflora and less frequently with C. torreyi. The corolla of C. wrightii is purplish as in C. torreyi and not the bright blue of C. parviflora. Collinsia wrightii and C. parviflora differ most evidently in plant stature and corolla size; C. wrightii is generally more diminutive.

The large-flowered form of Collinsia wrightii, corolla (6–)8–9 mm, has been treated as C. torreyi var. brevicarinata and occurs only near Kings Canyon and Sequoia national parks. The flowers are similar in size to those of C. torreyi as treated here but differ in corolla shape (wings surpassing tip of keel by 1.5–2 mm) and leaf shape and length. The seeds of the large-flowered form are compressed; those of the small-flowered form are not.

A phylogenetic study (B. G. Baldwin et al. 2011) showed that Collinsia wrightii and C. torreyi belong to divergent lineages and supports the recognition of these taxa as distinct species based on differences in the lengths of the wings relative to the tips of the keels.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 71. FNA vol. 17, p. 70.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Collinsia Plantaginaceae > Collinsia
Sibling taxa
C. antonina, C. bartsiifolia, C. callosa, C. childii, C. concolor, 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
C. antonina, C. bartsiifolia, C. callosa, C. childii, C. concolor, 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
Synonyms C. brachysiphon, C. monticola, C. torreyi var. brachysiphon, C. torreyi var. brevicarinata, C. torreyi var. wrightii
Name authority Herder: Gartenflora 1868: 33, plate 568. (1868): Inde× Seminum (St. Petersburg) 1866: 32. (1868) S. Watson: Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts 24: 84. (1889)
Web links 
Unless otherwise noted, all data comes from the online version of the Flora of North America, who have made most of their content available via a Creative Commons license (CC BY 4.0).



Type/paste one or more Latin names into the boxes above; matching taxa will show up below the box as you type. You can use the up/down arrow keys to move through the list.

(If the plant you're looking for doesn't show up in the auto-complete list, that means it either isn't described in Flora of North America yet, or it's listed under a synonym. And please note that Flora of North America is still missing several plant families, including Apiaceae, Boraginaceae, and Polemoniaceae.)

Choose a data source: Flora of North America

The species comparison tool is brought to you by:
Northwest Wildflowers