Gilia capitata subsp. chamissonis

Blue coast gilia, Blue Coast Gilia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.1

Blue coast gilia is a rare (CNPS 1B.1) California native annual found in northern Central Coast bioregion in coastal sandhills at elevations below 185 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces bright blue-violet flowers in clusters 25 to 35 millimeters wide with distinctive pale pedicels. Growing with spreading branches 15 to 70 centimeters tall that have a stout, glandular structure and a distinctive skunk-like odor, it develops a complex growth pattern. Its basal leaves form a fleshy rosette with 2-pinnate lobes that are glandular and intricately structured. The fruits are small ovoid structures 4 to 4.7 millimeters long, contained within a tomentose calyx with green lobes and purple-tinged membranes.

Habitat: Coastal sandhills

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 185 m

Bioregions: n CCo.

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