''Gilia tricolor'' (bird's-eyes, bird's-eye gilia, tricolor gilia) is an
annual
Annual may refer to:
*Annual publication, periodical publications appearing regularly once per year
** Yearbook
** Literary annual
*Annual plant
*Annual report
*Annual giving
*Annual, Morocco, a settlement in northeastern Morocco
*Annuals (band), ...
flowering plant
Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...
in the phlox family (
Polemoniaceae
The Polemoniaceae (Jacob's-ladder or phlox family) are a family of flowering plants consisting of about 25 genera with 270–400 species of annuals and perennials native to the Northern Hemisphere and South America, with the center of diversit ...
).
[Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2013, p. 49]
Range and habitat
It is native to the
Central Valley and foothills of the
Sierra Nevada and
Coast Ranges
The Pacific Coast Ranges (officially gazetted as the Pacific Mountain System in the United States) are the series of mountain ranges that stretch along the West Coast of North America from Alaska south to Northern and Central Mexico. Although th ...
in California.
[ Its native habitats include open, grassy plains and slopes below .]
Description
Growth pattern
Leaves and stems
Inflorescence and fruit
Flowers have 5 green sepals and 5 bell-shaped fused petals, which are blue-violet at the end, descending to purple spots over yellow throats, hence the three for "tri".[
]
Uses and ecological interactions
Subspecies
*''Gilia tricolor'' ssp.
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
''diffusa'' (Congd.) Mason & A. Grant
*''Gilia tricolor'' ssp. ''tricolor'' Benth.
Gallery
File:NIE 1905 California - flora.jpg, Gilia tricolor botanical illustration
File:Polemonaceae Birds Eye Gilia Giliatricolor.jpg, Polemonaceae Bird's Eye
File:Gilia tricolor 058.jpg, Gilia Tricolor (human hand for scale)
File:Gilia tricolor 2015-07-28 5320.jpg, Group of Gilia Tricolor
File:Gilia tricolor.jpg, Gilia Tricolor
File:Birdseye Gilia (58032199).jpg, Gilia Tricolor
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment - ''Gilia tricolor''
tricolor
Endemic flora of California
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Garden plants of North America
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Polemoniaceae-stub
