Collinsia multicolor
San francisco collinsia, San Francisco Collinsia
Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Native
Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2
San francisco collinsia is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in northern and central Coast ranges, specifically San Mateo County, in moist and somewhat shady scrub and forest habitats at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white and lavender to blue-purple flowers 12 to 18 millimeters long with distinctive bicolored petals. Growing 30 to 60 centimeters tall with loosely branched, weak stems, it develops an open, delicate structure. Its middle and upper leaves are lance-shaped, clasping the stem and typically coarsely toothed, with lower leaves alternating in arrangement. The flowers feature a white upper lip and a vibrant lavender to blue-purple lower lip with obovate lateral lobes that are sometimes notched.
Habitat: Moist, +- shady scrub, forest
Bloom period: Mar-May
Elevation: < 300 m
Bioregions: n&c CCo, SnFrB (San Mateo Co.).
California counties: San Mateo, San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Luis Obispo
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.