PLANT: Annual, 6-30 cm tall, simple or with 1-5 widely spaced, dichotomous branches above the base, glabrous.
LEAVES: mostly simple, sometimes with 3 lobes, linear, 1-3.5 cm long, glabrous.
INFLORESCENCE: open, the flowers 1-3, axillary and terminal.
FLOWERS: sessile to subsessile; calyx glabrous, narrowly campanulate, 8-13 mm long, the lobes equalling the tube, the hyaline membranes usually wider than the herbaceous ribs; corolla nocturnal, closed during the day, funnelform, 8-16 mm long, white to cream, the lobes tinged with purple; stamens inserted on the upper tube; filaments glabrous; style included. 2n=18.
NOTES: Sandy to rocky soils, washes and bajadas, desert shrubland and woodland; Coconino, Gila, Graham, La Paz, Maricopa, Mohave, Pima, Pinal, Santa Cruz, Yavapai, Yuma cos.; 60-1400 m (200-4600 ft); Feb-May; s CA to s UT.
REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.
Duration: Annual
Nativity: Native
Lifeform: Forb/Herb
General: Annual 6-30 cm tall, simple or with 1-5 widely spaced, dichotomous branches above the base, glabrous.
Leaves: Mostly simple, sometimes with 3 lobes, linear and entire, 1-3.5 cm long, glabrous.
Flowers: Open inflorescence, flowers 1-3, axillary and terminal; flowers sessile to subsessile; calyx glabrous, narrowly campanulate, 8-13 mm long, the lobes equaling the tube, hyaline membranes usually wider than the herbaceous ribs; corolla nocturnal, closed during the day, funnelform, 8-16 mm long, white to cream, the lobes tinged with purple; stamens inserted on the upper tube; filaments glabrous; style included.
Fruits: Cylindrical oblong capsule, several seeded.
Ecology: Found on grassy or sandy hillsides, along washes, often in sandy to rocky soils from 200-4,500 ft (61-1372 m); flowers February-May.
Notes: The white corolla is often streaked with crimson on the inside.
Ethnobotany: Unknown but other species in the genus have some uses.
Etymology: Linanthus is from the Greek linon meaning flax and anthos, flower, while bigelovii is named for Dr. John Milton Bigelow (1804-1878), who collected during the Whipple expedition.
Synonyms: Gilia bigelovii
Editor: SBuckley, 2010
