Gilia transmontana

Transmontane gilia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Transmontane gilia is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Castaic Range, northern Transverse Ranges, southeastern Sierra Nevada, and Mojave Desert on rocky or sandy desert slopes and washes at elevations of 480 to 2,250 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces delicate flowers with red or maroon-streaked tubes, lower yellow throats, and white or lavender lobes marked with purple spots near their bases. Growing with erect to spreading branches 10 to 32 centimeters tall and covered with woolly hairs below the middle, it forms a distinctive tufted appearance. Its basal leaves form a rosette with one-pinnate lobes, each linear lobe 3 to 11 millimeters long, spreading and sometimes slightly toothed. The fruit is an ovoid capsule 5 to 6 millimeters long with pointed or rounded tips, containing 12 to 21 seeds.

Habitat: Rocky or sandy desert slopes, washes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 480-2250 m

Bioregions: s SCoRO, n WTR, SNE, DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Mono, San Diego, Los Angeles

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