Gilia tenuiflora subsp. docmilleri

Santa lucia gilia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Santa lucia gilia is a California native annual found in the central coast ranges on serpentine or sandstone outcrops, chaparral, and Sargent cypress forest at elevations of 686 to 1,220 meters. Flowering from April to May, this plant produces dark purple flowers with pink to dark purple lobes, revealing a white-based corolla and a funnel-shaped tube that extends well beyond the calyx. Growing with erect or ascending stems 3 to 32 centimeters tall, the plant has a distinctive woolly-hairy lower stem and glandular-hairy upper portions. Its basal leaves form a rosette with margins ranging from entire to pinnately lobed, covered in tufted woolly hairs, with proximal leaves crowded and featuring narrow, entire lobes. The plant's unique dark purple and white corolla, combined with its serpentine habitat adaptation, makes it a striking example of California's diverse endemic flora.

Habitat: Serpentine or sandstone outcrops, chaparral, Sargent cypress forest

Bloom period: Apr-May

Elevation: 686-1220 m

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