Gilia brecciarum subsp. brecciarum

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Brecciarum gilia is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, northern Sierra San Gabriel, San Bernardino Mountains, Great Basin, and Death Valley Mountains, specifically in the Cottonwood Mountains, growing in sandy flats within open woodland and scrub at elevations of 915 to 2,560 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces distinctive purple and pink-lavender flowers with white bases, featuring a narrowly V-shaped throat that transitions from purple to yellow with purple veins. Growing with spreading to nearly erect branches, the plant develops delicate stems that support its intricate floral structure. Its flowers are relatively small, with a calyx measuring 2.5 to 4 millimeters long and a corolla ranging from 8 to 11 millimeters, creating an elegant and compact botanical form. The flower's complex color pattern—with its purple base, yellow throat, and pink-lavender lobes—makes this gilia a particularly striking example of its genus.

Habitat: Sandy flats in open woodland, scrub

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 915-2560 m

Bioregions: s SNH, Teh, n edge SnGb, SnBr, GB, DMtns (Cottonwood Mtns)

California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Ventura, Los Angeles, Tulare, Inyo, Santa Barbara, Mono, Modoc, San Luis Obispo, Sierra, Plumas, Lassen

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