Collinsia torreyi

Torrey's blue eyed mary

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Torrey's blue eyed mary is a California native annual found in open grasslands and coastal areas, typically growing at moderate elevations. Flowering from March to May, this delicate plant produces distinctive blue and white flowers with an intriguing two-toned appearance, where the lower lip is deep blue and the upper lip is pale white or lavender. Growing with slender stems 5 to 25 centimeters tall, it forms an open, glandular inflorescence with some flower pedicels becoming strongly curved in fruit. Its leaves are arranged along the stem with uppermost bracts measuring just 0 to 2 millimeters long, contributing to its delicate appearance. The flower's unique throat is angled and as wide as it is long, with subtle projections at the base of each lobe that barely extend from the throat opening.

California counties: Fresno, Mariposa, Placer, Shasta, Mono, Tuolumne, Tulare, Siskiyou, Tehama, Calaveras, Modoc, Lassen, Los Angeles, El Dorado, Ventura, Inyo, Nevada, Plumas, Madera, Kern, San Bernardino, Sierra, Alpine, Butte, Glenn, Humboldt, Trinity, Mendocino, Amador

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