POLEMONIACEAE

PHLOX FAMILY

Robert W. Patterson, Family Editor

Annual, perennial herb, shrub, vine
Leaves simple or compound, cauline (or most in basal rosette), alternate or opposite; stipules 0
Inflorescence: cymes, heads, or flowers solitary
Flower: calyx generally 5-ribbed, ribs often connected by translucent membranes that are generally torn by growing fruit; corolla generally 5-lobed, radial or bilateral, salverform to bell-shaped, throat often well defined; stamens generally 5, epipetalous, attached at same or different levels, filaments of same or different lengths, pollen white, yellow, blue, or red; ovary superior, chambers generally 3, style 1, stigmas generally 3
Fruit: capsule
Seeds 1–many, gelatinous or not when wet
Genera in family: 19 genera, 320 species: Am, n Eur, n Asia; some cultivated (Cantua, Cobaea (cup-and-saucer vine), Collomia, Gilia, Ipomopsis, Linanthus, Phlox )
Recent taxonomic note: *See also revised taxonomy of Porter and Johnson 2000 Aliso 19(1):55–91; Porter 1998 Aliso 17:83–85
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NAVARRETIA

Alva G. Day

Annual, generally erect; branches spreading or ascending, hairy, glandular or puberulent
Leaves simple, alternate, generally deeply pinnately lobed or entire
Inflorescence: head; bracts pinnately to palmately toothed or lobed, spine-tipped; flowers sessile or subsessile
Flower: calyx membranous between ribs, lobes 4–5, entire or toothed, unequal, spine-tipped; corolla lobes 4–5; stigmas 2 or 3
Fruit generally ovoid, chambers 1–3
Seeds 1–many per chamber, free or stuck together, brown, gelatinous when wet
Species in genus: ± 30 species: w North America, also in Argentina, Chile
Etymology: (F. Navarrete, Spanish physician, 1700's)

Native

N. atractyloides (Benth.) Hook. & Arn.

Stem 5–29 cm
Leaf strap-shaped to lanceolate, pinnate; cauline leaf axis 2–6 mm wide; basal lobes spreading; upper lobes unequal, pointed tipward
Inflorescence: bracts gland-dotted or glandular-hairy, recurved, base widely clasping, lobes at tip generally 3, unequal, pointed tipward
Flower: calyx lobes entire or toothed; corolla 8–9 mm, included in head, generally purple (white), tube red-veined, lobes < 2 mm; stamens, style slightly exserted; stigmas 3
Fruit < calyx, dehiscing from tip
Seeds 2–6 per chamber
Chromosomes: 2n=18
Ecology: Open, rocky or sandy areas
Elevation: 90–900 m.
Bioregional distribution: North Coast Ranges, San Francisco Bay Area, South Coast Ranges, Channel Islands, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges
Distribution outside California: Oregon, Baja California
Like N. hamata , but not skunk-like odor, bract tips not hooked
Synonyms: N. hamata Greene subsp. foliacea (Greene) H. Mason
Horticultural information: DRN, SUN, IRR: 5, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.