''Collinsia sparsiflora'' is a flowering plant in the family
Plantaginaceae known by the common names spinster's blue-eyed Mary and few-flowered collinsia. One variety of the species is native to the
West Coast of the United States as far north as
Washington, while the other three varieties are limited to
California alone.
Varieties
* ''Collinsia sparsiflora'' var. ''arvensis''
* ''Collinsia sparsiflora'' var. ''bruceae''
* ''Collinsia sparsiflora'' var. ''collina''
* ''Collinsia sparsiflora'' var. ''sparsiflora''
Habitat
The plant grows in several types of habitat, including disturbed and cultivated areas. It has a weak affinity for
serpentine soils,
growing from sea-level to 5000'.
Botany
It 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 slender, reddish stem up to 30 centimeters tall with an
inflorescence of widely spaced nodes bearing one to three flowers each. The flower has very long, pointed
sepals and purple, lavender, or occasionally white flowers. The fruit is a spherical, red-spotted
capsule growing deep within the long sepals.
Ecology
''Colinsia sparsiflora'' has been found to host discrete populations of ''
Acaulospora
''Acaulospora'' is a genus of fungi in the family Acaulosporaceae. Species in this genus are widespread in distribution, and form arbuscular mycorrhiza
An arbuscular mycorrhiza (AM) (plural ''mycorrhizae'', a.k.a. ''endomycorrhiza'') is a ty ...
'' AM fungi (
AMF (ecology)) on serpentine soil, ''
Glomus'' on non-serpentine soil types.
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Collinsia sparsiflora''''Collinsia sparsiflora'' — U.C. Photo gallery
sparsiflora
Flora of California
Flora of Oregon
Flora of Washington (state)
Flora of the Cascade Range
Flora of the Klamath Mountains
Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area
Flora of the West Coast of the United States
Plants described in 1836
Flora without expected TNC conservation status
{{Plantaginaceae-stub