Linanthus pungens

Granite gilia, Granite Gilia

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Granite gilia is a California native perennial found in montane, subalpine forest, and alpine fell-fields of the Sierra Nevada at elevations of 1,700 to 4,000 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white or light pink flowers with darker shading on the petal margins, opening in the evening and featuring funnel-shaped corollas 7 to 15 millimeters long. Growing with hairy stems 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it forms a compact subshrub-like habit. Its distinctive leaves are alternate with 3 to 7 palmate lobes, typically sharp-tipped with the middle lobe generally the longest. The plant produces small, narrowly ovoid fruits containing 15 to 30 seeds.

Habitat: Open, rocky areas in montane, subalpine forest, alpine fell-fields

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 1700-4000 m.

Bioregions: CA

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Mono, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Lassen, Tulare, Shasta, Kern, Siskiyou, Alpine, El Dorado, Sierra, Butte, Tehama, Plumas, Orange, Fresno, Modoc, Trinity, Nevada, Ventura, Tuolumne, Placer, Imperial, Glenn, Colusa, Marin, Mariposa

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