Collinsia parviflora

Blue-eyed mary, Blue-Eyed Mary

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Blue-eyed mary is a California native annual found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, high Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada, San Francisco Bay Area, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Great Basin in moist, partially shady montane habitats at elevations of 800 to 3,500 meters. Flowering from March to July, this delicate plant produces white and blue flowers with distinctive blue-tipped upper lips in small, open clusters. Growing with slender stems 3 to 40 centimeters tall, it forms an airy, branching structure with lance-linear leaves. Its leaves have narrow, obtuse blades with margins rolled slightly under, creating a subtle, compact appearance. The small flowers feature a white throat and tube with blue or purple main lobes, typically 4 to 8 millimeters long, nestled within slightly larger calyxes.

Habitat: Common. Moist, +- shady places, montane

Bloom period: Mar-Jul

Elevation: 800-3500 m

Bioregions: KR, n NCoRO, NCoRH, CaRH, SNH, SnFrB (Mount Hamilton Range), TR, PR, GB

California counties: Humboldt, Lassen, San Diego, Tuolumne, Contra Costa, Tulare, San Bernardino, Riverside, Mono, Modoc, Monterey, Alpine, El Dorado, Fresno, Mendocino, Plumas, Trinity, Mariposa, Inyo, Los Angeles, Ventura, Nevada, Shasta, Del Norte, Placer, Siskiyou, Butte, Santa Clara, Kern, Madera, Santa Barbara, Orange, Sacramento, Sierra, Calaveras, Lake, Tehama, Glenn, Alameda, San Benito, 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.