''Collinsia greenei'' is a species of flowering plant in the

plantain family Plantaginaceae, the plantain family, is a large, diverse family of flowering plants in the order Lamiales that includes common flowers such as snapdragon and foxglove. It is unrelated to the banana-like fruit also called "plantain." In older cl ...

known by the common name Greene's blue-eyed Mary. It is endemic to northern California, where it grows in the coastal and inland mountains, including the North Coast Ranges and the Klamath Mountains. Its habitat includes

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant community and geographical feature found primarily in the U.S. state of California, in southern Oregon, and in the northern portion of the Baja California Peninsula in Mexico. It is shaped by a Mediterranean c ...

and coniferous forest on

serpentine soil Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...

Description

''Collinsia greenei'' is an annual

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

producing a very glandular-hairy purple-tinted green stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. The oppositely arranged leaves may be toothed or smooth on the edges. The inflorescence is an interrupted series of whorls bearing one to five flowers each. Each flower arises on an erect

pedicel Pedicle or pedicel may refer to: Human anatomy *Pedicle of vertebral arch, the segment between the transverse process and the vertebral body, and is often used as a radiographic marker and entry point in vertebroplasty and kyphoplasty procedures ...

. The sepals are bluntly lobed and coated thickly in glandular hairs. The flower is one to 1.5 centimeters long and royal purple in color, sometimes with a wash of white in the throat. It has two short upper lobes with their lips turned back, and three longer lower lobes arranged into a long pouch.

External links

Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Collinsia greenei''USDA Plants Profile''Collinsia greenei'' — U.C. Photo gallery
greenei Endemic flora of California Flora of the Klamath Mountains Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Plants described in 1894 Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Plantaginaceae-stub