PLANT: Annual, 5-40 cm tall, simple to branched; stems glandular.

LEAVES: glandular and short pilose, reduced above the basal rosette; basal and lower lobed once or twice, the lobes entire or toothed; cauline lobed to entire, the lobes ovate.

INFLORESCENCE: open, with 1-2 pedicelled flowers at branch tips.

FLOWER: calyx 3-5 mm long, slightly glandular, the lobes acuminate; corolla funnelform to salverform, 10-16 mm long, the tube 2-3 times the calyx length, pink to lavender, the throat yellow, the lobes pink to lavender; stamens inserted on the upper throat; anthers located just above the throat; stigma located among the anthers.

CAPSULE: 4-6 mm long, broadly ovoid. 2n=18,36.

NOTES: Washes, rocky slopes, desert shrublands; Coconino, La Paz, Mohave, Yuma cos.; 450-1100 m (1500-3600 ft); Feb-May; s CA to sw UT, s to AZ.

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: Erect annual, 10-30 cm tall, stems simple to paniculately branched from base, pubescent with straight, translucent hairs, often gland-tipped, becoming shorter and more glandular in inflorescence.

Leaves: Lower 3-9 cm, 5-20 mm broad, coarsely toothed or incised or pinnately divided, lobes pinnatifid, ultimate divisions often acute, pubescence same as on stems; upper sessile, shorter, fewer divisions, uppermost 2-5 mm, 3-toothed.

Flowers: Paniculately branched with many flowers borne singly on glandular pedicels of variable lengths, longer than 1 cm; glandular calyx, 3-4.3 mm long, enlarging with maturing capsule, calyx lobes needle-shaped, half as long as calyx tube; funnelform corolla 10-14.5 mm long, tube white, yellow or pale violet, narrow 1.4-3.4 mm long.

Fruits: Ovoid capsule, subglobular, 4.5-5.5 mm long, dehiscent from top to bottom between 3 valves.

Ecology: Found along desert washes and on dry, rocky slopes below 2,500 ft (762 m); flowers March-May.

Notes: The pubescence of the plant, along with the length of the corolla tube can assist in the identification of this species. Ours are thought to be of var. angustata.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in genera have many uses.

Etymology: Gilia is named for Filippo Luigi Gilii (1756-1821) an Italian naturalist, while scopulorum means growing on cliffs.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley, 2010