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. prolifera Greene

Stem: branches paired or whorled, 2–4 from below heads, 6–16 cm, spreading, slender, brown, generally glabrous
Leaves: basal entire, thread-like, glabrous; cauline pinnate, axis and lobes thread-like
Inflorescence: bracts (and calyces) densely white-hairy at middle, glandular-puberulent above, lobe tips glabrous, needle-pointed; outer bracts palmate, middle lobe < 2 X longest lateral
Flower: calyx lobes entire; corolla 8–10 mm, generally > calyx, lobes ovate, 1–3 mm; stamens, style exserted; stigmas 3
Fruit dehiscing from tip to base
Seeds 3 per chamber
Ecology: Dry, rocky flats near drainage channels
Elevation: 600–1400 m.
Bioregional distribution: Sierra Nevada Foothills.

Native

subsp. lutea (Brand) H. Mason

YELLOW BUR NAVARRETIA

Flower: corolla yellow throughout
Ecology: UNCOMMON. Habitat of sp.
Elevation: 900–1400 m.
Bioregional distribution: n Sierra Nevada Foothills (El Dorado Co.)
Horticultural information: TRY.