Collinsia torreyi var. brevicarinata

Torrey's blue eyed mary

Family: Plantaginaceae · Type: annual · Native

Torrey's blue eyed mary is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada Mountains in conifer forest, often in sandy, granitic soil at elevations of 1,800 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces blue and white flowers with corollas 6 to 9 millimeters long. Growing to approximately 10 to 30 centimeters tall with delicate, branching stems. Its leaves are distinctively long and narrow, more than five times longer than wide, ranging from linear to elliptic in shape. The slender, graceful form of this plant allows it to thrive in the rocky, well-drained soils of high-elevation Sierra Nevada conifer forests.

Habitat: Conifer forest, often in sandy, granitic soil

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1800-3000 m

Bioregions: s SNH.

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