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
.

COLLOMIA

Dieter H. Wilken

Annual, perennial herb
Stem hairy, glandular
Leaves alternate, simple, entire to generally pinnately lobed, linear to ovate; basal short-petioled; cauline sessile
Inflorescence: heads or clusters, terminal (or flowers 1–3 in axils)
Flower: calyx green, becoming straw-colored, membranous in age, generally bell-shaped, sinuses in fruit pleated to expanded; corolla salverform to funnel-shaped
Fruit ovoid to elliptic
Seeds 3 per chamber, oblong, generally gelatinous, brown
Chromosomes: 2n=16
Species in genus: 15 species: North America; also in s South America
Etymology: (Greek: glue, from wet seed surface)
Self-compatible; annual species self-pollinating; per species generally cross-pollinating
Reference: [Wilken et al. 1982 Biochem Syst Ecol 10:239–243]

Native

C. grandiflora Lindl.

Annual
Stem erect, simple or branched above in robust plants
Leaves: basal lanceolate, toothed; cauline lanceolate to linear, entire, generally glabrous above, glaucous, slightly glandular below
Inflorescence: head, terminal; flowers sessile
Flower: calyx 7–10 mm, lobes lanceolate; corolla 15–30 mm (< 5 mm in cleistogamous flowers), yellow to orange; pollen generally blue
Ecology: Open areas
Elevation: 600–2500 m.
Bioregional distribution: California Floristic Province, n East of Sierra Nevada
Distribution outside California: to British Columbia, Idaho, Colorado, Arizona; naturalized in Europe
Flowering time: Apr–Jun
Fully cleistogamous plants have single stems < 10 cm with 3–7 flowers at tip
Horticultural information: SUN, DRN: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24.