''Collinsia grandiflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names giant blue eyed Mary and large-flowered collinsia. This wildflower is native to western North America from

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

where it grows in

coniferous Conifers () are a group of conifer cone, cone-bearing Spermatophyte, seed plants, a subset of gymnosperms. Scientifically, they make up the phylum, division Pinophyta (), also known as Coniferophyta () or Coniferae. The division contains a sin ...

understory and

woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

Description

This is an erect

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), a ...

herb Herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal purposes, or for fragrances. Culinary use typically distingu ...

reaching about 35 centimeters in maximum height. It produces a thin stem and narrow leaves and looks grasslike before flowering. It produces a showy

inflorescence In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...

which is separated into interrupted levels, with each level producing a row of one to several flowers. Each pea-like flower is just over a centimeter wide and bright purple with white upper lips. The fruit is a capsule containing four seeds. The plant is relatively small, but its features are larger than most other ''

Collinsia ''Collinsia'' is a genus of about 20 species of annual flowering plants, consisting of the blue eyed Marys and the Chinese houses. It was traditionally placed in the snapdragon family Scrophulariaceae, but following recent research in molecular ...

'', hence its common names.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment OF ''Collinsia grandiflora''USDA Plants Profile FOR ''Collinsia grandiflora''''Collinsia grandiflora'' — U.C. Photo gallery
grandiflora Flora of British Columbia Flora of California Flora of Oregon Flora of Washington (state) Flora of the Klamath Mountains Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Flora of the West Coast of the United States Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Plantaginaceae-stub