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Photo is of parent taxon

hillside collinsia, spinster's blue eyed Mary

few-flower blue-eyed Mary, few-flower collinsia, spinster's blue eyed Mary

Habit Annuals 5–30 cm.
Stems

erect to ascending.

Leaf

blades usually linear to oblong, margins entire.

Inflorescences

glabrous or finely hairy, eglandular;

nodes 1- or 2(or 3)-flowered;

flowers not crowded;

distalmost bracts linear to narrowly lanceolate, 2–4(+) mm.

Pedicels

ascending to spreading, usually longer than calyx, visible.

Flowers

corolla 5–9 mm, angle between corolla tube-throat and calyx 30–45°.

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.

Capsules

with red blotches.

Seeds

2–2.3(–2.5) mm.

4–12, round, flattened, 2–3 mm, margins thin, not inrolled.

2n

= 14.

Collinsia sparsiflora var. collina

Collinsia sparsiflora

Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Disturbed grassy fields, road banks, open chaparral, open oak and dry mixed woodlands.
Elevation 100–1200 m. (300–3900 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Plants of var. collina are diminutive in many respects compared to those of var. sparsiflora.

(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.)

Key
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
Source FNA vol. 17, p. 70. FNA vol. 17, p. 69.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Collinsia > Collinsia sparsiflora Plantaginaceae > Collinsia
Sibling taxa
C. sparsiflora var. sparsiflora
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. tinctoria, C. torreyi, C. verna, C. violacea, C. wrightii
Subordinate taxa
C. sparsiflora var. collina, C. sparsiflora var. sparsiflora
Synonyms C. parviflora var. collina, C. solitaria
Name authority (Jepson) Newsom: Bot. Gaz. 87: 286. (1929) Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Inde× Seminum (St. Petersburg) 2: 33. (1836)
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