Collinsia concolor

Chinese houses

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Chinese houses is a California native annual found in southern California coastal regions and Peninsular Ranges in Riverside County, inhabiting openings and margins of chaparral, oak, and pinyon/juniper woodland at elevations of 300 to 1,700 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces beautiful blue to blue-purple flowers with delicate white and purple-dotted upper lips and distinctive whorled clusters. Growing with slender stems 15 to 40 centimeters tall, it develops thin leaves ranging from narrowly oblong to widely lanceolate. Its leaves are nearly smooth, with entire to slightly toothed edges, creating a delicate appearance in woodland margins. The flowers feature an intricate structure with upper and lateral lobes that are notched, and lateral lobes that are obovate and generally sparsely hairy.

Habitat: Openings and margins of chaparral, oak and pinyon/juniper woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 300-1700 m

Bioregions: SCo (Riverside Co.), PR

California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Orange, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Yolo, Sonoma, Contra Costa, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Mariposa

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.