Gilia salticola
Encyclopedia
Gilia salticola is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family
known by the common name salt gilia. It is native to the Sierra Nevada and Modoc Plateau
of California
and western Nevada
, where it grows in volcanic and granitic
soils.
produces tubular flowers with ribbed sepal
s and yellow-throated lavender corollas.
This is sometimes treated as a subspecies of Gilia leptantha
.
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 salt gilia. It is native to the Sierra Nevada and Modoc Plateau
Modoc Plateau
The Modoc Plateau lies in the northeast corner of California as well as parts of Oregon and Nevada. It is a mile-high expanse of lava flows with cinder cones, juniper flats, pine forests, and seasonal lakes. The plateau is thought to have been formed approximately 25 million years ago...
of 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 western 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...
, where it grows in volcanic and granitic
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
soils.
Description
This herb grows up to 20 centimeters tall, its branching stem coated in cobwebby fibers and speckled with knob-tipped glandular hairs. The leaves gathered about the base of the stem are divided into deep, pointed lobes. The glandular inflorescenceInflorescence
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 tubular flowers with ribbed 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 and yellow-throated lavender corollas.
This is sometimes treated as a subspecies of Gilia leptantha
Gilia leptantha
Gilia leptantha is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name fineflower gilia. It is native to California and southern Nevada, where it grows in open mountain and desert habitat.-Description:...
.