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. nigelliformis Greene

Stem 9–32 cm, puberulent; hairs white, recurved
Leaf 2-pinnate; axis and lobes linear, < 1 mm wide, spreading (or upper clustered, pointing tipward)
Inflorescence: bracts pinnate, axis and lobes linear, hairy below middle
Flower: calyx ribs strap-shaped, hairy near middle, longest lobes toothed; corolla yellow, throat with paired, purple or brown spots below lobes; stigmas 2, minute
Fruit: chamber 1; valves 4, dehiscing in lower half
Ecology: Vernal pools, clay depressions
Elevation: 100–1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Sierra Nevada Foothills, Great Central Valley, Inner South Coast Ranges
Horticultural information: TRY.

Native

subsp. radians (J.T. Howell) A.G. Day

Plant herbage light gray-green
Stem: branches decumbent (plant wider than high)
Inflorescence densely white-hairy in center; bract tips generally glabrous
Flower: corolla 9–11 mm, included in head, lobes 1–2 mm; stamens exserted < corolla lobes; style included
Seeds 2–8
Ecology: Habitat of sp.
Elevation: 200–1000 m.
Bioregional distribution: Inner South Coast Ranges.Like N. heterandra. Further study needed.