Gilia aliquanta
Encyclopedia
Gilia aliquanta is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family
known by the common name puffcalyx gilia. It is native to the Sierra Nevada mountains and deserts of southeastern California
and southern Nevada
.
It is a small herb producing a thin, spreading stem up to about 16 centimeters long, sometimes laced with cobwebby fibers. The fleshy, lobed leaves are each 1 to 3 centimeters long and located in a cluster around the base of the stem. The glandular inflorescence
bears one or more flowers, each between one and two centimeters in total length. The base of the flower is a puffy saclike calyx of sepal
s which is ribbed, thin and membranous between the ribs and purple to purple spotted in color. The face of the flower is a lavender to purple corolla. The fruit is a valved, oval capsule.
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 name puffcalyx gilia. It is native to the Sierra Nevada mountains and deserts of southeastern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and southern Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
.
It is a small herb producing a thin, spreading stem up to about 16 centimeters long, sometimes laced with cobwebby fibers. The fleshy, lobed leaves are each 1 to 3 centimeters long and located in a cluster around the base of the stem. The glandular 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...
bears one or more flowers, each between one and two centimeters in total length. The base of the flower is a puffy saclike calyx of sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s which is ribbed, thin and membranous between the ribs and purple to purple spotted in color. The face of the flower is a lavender to purple corolla. The fruit is a valved, oval capsule.