Flora of North America species comparison

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Collinsia sparsiflora

Collinsia sparsiflora var. sparsiflora

few-flower blue-eyed Mary, few-flower collinsia, spinster's blue eyed Mary
Photo is of parent taxon

few flower collinsia, few-flower blue-eyed Mary, 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

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.

corolla 9–20 mm, angle between corolla tube-throat and calyx 45–70°.
Capsules

with red blotches.

Seeds

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

2.5–3 mm.
2n

= 14.

Collinsia sparsiflora

Collinsia sparsiflora var. sparsiflora
Phenology Flowering Mar–May.
Habitat Grassy, sometimes disturbed, places, drying meadows, chaparral, oak woodlands, dry mixed woodlands.
Elevation 0–2000 m. (0–6600 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
from FNA
CA; OR; WA
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

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.)

In the southern portion of the interior North Coast Ranges of California, plants of var. sparsiflora with corollas 14–20 mm and strongly declined occur on mafic substrates of volcanic origin. V. M. Newsom (1929) treated these plants as var. arvensis.

V. M. Newsom (1929) treated plants of var. sparsiflora with corollas 9–13 mm in the Cascade Ranges of southern Oregon and northern California as var. bruceae. The shape of the corolla of var. bruceae is intermediate to that of the smaller-flowered var. collina with which it is sympatric. These plants are not as tall as those of the Coastal Ranges of California.

(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. 69. FNA vol. 17, p. 69.
Parent taxa Plantaginaceae > Collinsia Plantaginaceae > Collinsia > Collinsia sparsiflora
Sibling taxa
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
C. sparsiflora var. collina
Subordinate taxa
C. sparsiflora var. collina, C. sparsiflora var. sparsiflora
Synonyms C. bruceae, C. sparsiflora var. arvensis, C. sparsiflora var. bruceae
Name authority Fischer & C. A. Meyer: Inde× Seminum (St. Petersburg) 2: 33. (1836) unknown
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).



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