Collinsia greenei
Collinsia sparsiflora
Greene's blue-eyed Mary, Greene's collinsia
few-flower blue-eyed Mary, few-flower collinsia, spinster's blue eyed Mary
erect to ascending.
erect to ascending.
blades narrowly lanceolate to ovate or oblanceolate, margins entire or serrate.
blades usually linear to oblong, margins entire.
glandular;
nodes 1–5-flowered;
flowers crowded or not;
distalmost bracts linear, 2–3 mm.
glabrous or finely hairy, eglandular;
nodes 1- or 2(or 3)-flowered;
flowers not crowded;
distalmost bracts linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–4(+) mm.
ascending to spreading, proximalmost sometimes longer than calyx, distalmost equal to or shorter than calyx, visible or not.
ascending to spreading, usually longer than calyx, visible.
calyx lobes lanceolate to ovate, surpassing capsule, apex subacute to rounded;
corolla ± uniformly dark purple, rarely pale pinkish purple, 10–15 mm, sparsely glandular;
banner length 0.5 times wings, base with 2-crested, crescent-shaped folds extending 1–1.5 mm from throat opening;
stamens: filaments glabrous, adaxials sometimes hairy, basal spur 0.
calyx lobes narrowly triangular to lanceolate, surpassing capsule, apex sharply acute to acuminate;
corolla lavender to purple, rarely white, 5–20 mm, keel sparsely hairy near tip;
banner length 0.8–0.9 times wings, lobe base without folds;
banner lobes and wings oblong to obovate, entire or notched;
stamens: abaxial filaments glabrous or sparsely long-hairy at base, adaxials sparsely spreading-hairy on proximal 1/2, basal spur 0.
with red blotches.
2–4, oval, 2–3 mm, margins thin, not inrolled.
4–12, round, flattened, 2–3 mm, margins thin, not inrolled.
= 14.
Collinsia greenei
Collinsia sparsiflora
Collinsia greenei occurs on ophiolites, most frequently on soil derived from serpentinite and similarly altered ultramafic rock. Within its range, only C. rattanii occurs on these substrates; C. latifolia, C. parviflora, and C. wrightii are not on highly mafic soil.
The dark, nearly uniformly purple corollas of Collinsia greenei are distinctive, and the crescent-shaped flap of tissue on the adaxial lobes is unique. Other taxa have folds that bulge outward but are neither doubly crested nor crescent-shaped.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
Varieties 2 (2 in the flora).
Collinsia sparsiflora occurs in open habitats and woodland edges; it is easily recognized by the red blotches on fruits and the frequent occurrence of a single flower per node. In immature plants, the presence of a red band spanning the circumference of the base of the calyx lobes along with the relatively frequent occurrence of a single flower per node distinguishes C. sparsiflora.
V. M. Newsom (1929) recognized five varieties in Collinsia sparsiflora.
Two varieties are recognized here to accommodate the general pattern of locally distinct small- and large-flowered populations of Collinsia sparsiflora. Where these taxa are sympatric, the author has not found intermediates that suggest local interbreeding.
(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)
1. Corollas 9–20 mm, angles between corolla tube-throat and calyx 45–70°; seeds 2.5–3 mm. | var. sparsiflora |
1. Corollas 5–9 mm, angles between corolla tube-throat and calyx 30–45°; seeds 2–2.3(–2.5) mm. | var. collina |
CA
OR
Flora NW
PNW Herbaria
WildflowerSearch
iNaturalist
USDA Plants Database
WA
