Gilia cana subsp. speciosa

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Gilia cana subsp. speciosa is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada eastern slopes and Mojave Desert in open, gravelly or sandy flats and washes at elevations of 200 to 2,900 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces delicate white to pale lavender flowers with narrow throats approximately 20 to 32 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems up to several centimeters tall, it forms densely tufted clumps with distinctive woolly-hairy basal leaves. Its leaves are densely clustered, measuring 2 to 4 centimeters long and covered in soft, tufted hairs that give the plant a distinctive textured appearance. The fruit is widely ovoid, measuring 5 to 9 millimeters long and containing 30 to 60 seeds.

Habitat: Open, gravelly or sandy flats, washes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 200-2900 m

Bioregions: s SNH (e slope), DMoj.

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Inyo, Tulare

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