Aliciella leptomeria
Encyclopedia
Aliciella leptomeria is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family
known by the common names Sand gilia and Great Basin gilia. It is native to the Western United States
, where it grows in many types of habitat, such as the sagebrush
of the Great Basin
and in the Mojave Desert
.
It is a small herb producing a thin, branching stem up to about 23 centimeters tall. It is coated in glandular hairs. Several deeply lobed leaves 1 to 6 centimeters long are located in a basal rosette at ground level around the stem. There are smaller, unlobed leaves along the stem. The inflorescence
produces one to three flowers, each about half a centimeter wide with a thread-thin tube. The corolla is purple-stained white, the throat is yellowish, and the tube is purple.
Polemoniaceae
Polemoniaceae are a family of about 25 genera with 270-400 species of annual and perennial plants, native to the Northern Hemisphere and South America, with the center of diversity in western North America, especially in California.Only one genus is found in Europe, and two in Asia, where they...
known by the common names Sand gilia and Great Basin gilia. It is native to the Western United States
Western United States
.The Western United States, commonly referred to as the American West or simply "the West," traditionally refers to the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. Because the U.S. expanded westward after its founding, the meaning of the West has evolved over time...
, where it grows in many types of habitat, such as the sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
of the Great Basin
Great Basin
The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds in North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American low point at Badwater Basin to the highest point of the contiguous United States, less than away at the...
and in the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
.
It is a small herb producing a thin, branching stem up to about 23 centimeters tall. It is coated in glandular hairs. Several deeply lobed leaves 1 to 6 centimeters long are located in a basal rosette at ground level around the stem. There are smaller, unlobed leaves along the stem. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
produces one to three flowers, each about half a centimeter wide with a thread-thin tube. The corolla is purple-stained white, the throat is yellowish, and the tube is purple.