Aliciella latifolia

Aliciella latifolia (formerly Gilia latifolia),[1] also known as broad-leaved gilia, is a foul smelling annual plant in the Phlox family (Polemoniaceae) found in deserts of the southwestern United States.[2][3]:114

Aliciella latifolia
Aliciella latifolia in Furnace Creek Wash, Death Valley, California
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Polemoniaceae
Genus: Aliciella
Species:
A. latifolia
Binomial name
Aliciella latifolia
(S.Watson) J.M.Porter
Synonyms

Gilia latifolia S.Watson

Habitat and range

It grows in the eastern and northern Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert.[2] It is common in desert dry washes and on rocky hillsides below 2,000', and in creosote bush scrub, especially where there is desert varnish.[2]

Growth pattern

It is an annual growing from 4" to 12" tall.[2]

Leaves

Leaves are simple, leathery, and ovate to round, with toothed margins sometimes tinged with pink to red.[2] Leaves are unusual with broad holly-like leaves, compared to its relatives which have pinnately divided leaves.[3]:114

Flowers

Flowers have five sepals, five petals fused into a narrow, funnel-shaped, corolla tube. Its five stamens alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Flowers occur in a cluster at the end of the stems.[2] The outside of the corolla is pale pink to tan, and the inside is pink to bright red, with stamens of unequal length that barely protrude past the corolla.[2]

Fruits

Fruits are capsules with 3-compartments, each having many reddish-brown seeds.[2]

References

  1. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd. Ed. p.314
  2. Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd. Ed. p.99
  3. Sonoran Desert Wildflowers, Richard Spellenberg, 2nd ed., 2012, ISBN 9780762773688
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