PLANT: Annual, 6-30(-45) cm tall, branched throughout; stems cobwebby below, glabrous to sparsely glandular above.

LEAVES: sparsely cobwebby, reduced above the basal rosette; basal and lower lobed once or twice, the lobes entire or toothed; cauline entire or basally lobed.

INFLORESCENCE: congested, with short pedicelled to subsessile flowers in terminal clusters.

FLOWERS: calyx 3-5(-8) mm long, glabrous to sparsely cobwebby, the lobes acuminate to attenuate; corolla funnelform, 7-27 mm long, the tube equal to or longer than the calyx, violet or yellow, the throat yellow, the lobes pink to yellow with violet flecks; stamens inserted on the throat; anthers slightly exserted; stigma exserted or located among the anthers.

CAPSULE: 5-8.5 mm long, broadly ovoid.

NOTES: 2 subspp.; NV to TX and n Son. Incorrectly referred to Gilia tenuiflora Jones by Kearney and Peebles.

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 herbs, 6-30 cm tall; stems erect and branched throughout; herbage cobwebby below and glabrous to sparsely stipitate glandular above.

Leaves: Basal rosette plus a few reduced, alternate stem leaves, all sparsely cobwebby; basal and lower stem leaves lobed once or twice, the lobes entire or toothed; upper stem leaves entire or basally lobed.

Flowers: Pink-purple and yellow, short-pediceled or subsessile in compact terminal clusters, the clusters on long stalks; calyx 3-5 mm long, glabrous to sparsely cobwebby, consisting of 5 herbaceous sepals connected to each other by papery membranes, the sepals with acuminate to attenuate tips; corolla funnelform, 7-27 mm long, the tube equal to or longer than the calyx and violet or yellow, the throat yellow, the lobes pink to yellow with violet flecks; anthers slightly exserted beyond the corolla lobes.

Fruits: Capsule 5-9 mm long, broadly ovoid; containing several seeds.

Ecology: Found in sandy canyons, on mountain slopes and along arroyos, from 1,500-5,000 ft (457-1524 m); flowers February-May.

Distribution: UT, AZ, NM; south to n MEX.

Notes: Distinguished by sparse cobwebby hairs on leaves which are mostly basal, and reduced above; flowers subsessile or short-pedicelled (some pedicelled) in terminal corymbose or capitate clusters (some in open inflorecsences); calyces not glandular, and streaked or spotted with purple, especially on the papery sinuses between the calyx lobes; and funnelform corollas. It is similar to G. mexicana, but that species has generally smaller leaves that are dissected into very narrow lobes (less than 1 mm wide) with pointed tips; lacks the purple spots on the papery sinuses between the calyx lobes; and has smaller flowers, the corollas only 5-8 mm long (7-27 mm long in G. flavocincta). There are two subspecies: subsp. australis can be told apart by having a corolla 7-18 mm long, the tube equal to or slightly exceeding the calyx, the style usually not exceeding the stamens, and usually found at slightly lower elevations; subsp. flavocincta has a corolla 12-27 mm long, the tube longer than the calyx, with the style usually exceeding the stamens. Kearney and Peebles incorrectly use the name Gilia tenuifolia for this species; it is not a true synonym.

Ethnobotany: Unknown, but other species in the genus have uses.

Etymology: Gilia is named for Filippo Luigi Gilii (1756-1821) an Italian naturalist; flavocincta comes from the Latin flavus, yellow, and cincta, surrounded or encircled, referring to the yellow throat of the flower.

Synonyms: None

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015, AHazelton 2015, AHazelton 2017