''Aliciella latifolia'' (formerly ''
Gilia
''Gilia'' is a genus of between 25 and 50 species of flowering plants in the Polemoniaceae family and is related to phlox. These Western native plants are best sown in sunny, well-draining soil in the temperate and tropical regions of the Ameri ...
latifolia''),
[Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd. Ed. p.314] also known as broad-leaved gilia, is a foul smelling
annual plant
An annual plant is a plant that completes its life cycle, from germination to the production of seeds, within one growing season, and then dies. The length of growing seasons and period in which they take place vary according to geographical ...
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 diversity ...
) found in deserts of the southwestern United States.
[Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam Mackay, 2nd. Ed. p.99][Sonoran Desert Wildflowers, Richard Spellenberg, 2nd ed., 2012, ]
Habitat and range
It grows in the eastern and northern
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily in ...
and
Colorado Desert
California's Colorado Desert is a part of the larger Sonoran Desert. It encompasses approximately , including the heavily irrigated Coachella and Imperial valleys. It is home to many unique flora and fauna.
Geography and geology
The Colorado De ...
.
[ It is common in ]desert dry wash
Desert dry wash is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) occurring in the flat bottoms of canyons and drainages that lack water at or near the surface most of the year, and are subject to periodic severe flooding events.Pam MacKay, Moj ...
es and on rocky hillsides below 2,000', and in creosote bush scrub Creosote bush scrub is a North American desert vegetation type (or biome) of sparsely but evenly spaced desert plants dominated by creosote bush (''Larrea tridentata'') and its associates. Its visual characterization is of widely spaced shrubs that ...
, especially where there is desert varnish
Desert varnish or rock varnish is an orange-yellow to black coating found on exposed rock surfaces in arid environments. Desert varnish is approximately one micrometer thick and exhibits nanometer-scale layering. Rock rust and desert patina are ot ...
.[
]
Growth pattern
It is an annual growing from 4" to 12" tall.[
]
Leaves
Leaves are simple, leathery, and ovate
Ovate may refer to:
*Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts
*Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe
*Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd
*Vates
In modern English, the nouns vates () and ovat ...
to round, with toothed margins sometimes tinged with pink to red.[ Leaves are unusual with broad holly-like leaves, compared to its relatives which have ]pinnate
Pinnation (also called pennation) is the arrangement of feather-like or multi-divided features arising from both sides of a common axis. Pinnation occurs in biological morphology, in crystals, such as some forms of ice or metal crystals, and in ...
ly divided leaves.[
]
Flowers
Flowers have five sepals
A sepal () is a part of the flower of angiosperms (flowering plants). Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom., p. 106 The term ''sepalum'' was coined b ...
, five petals
Petals are modified leaves that surround the reproductive parts of flowers. They are often brightly colored or unusually shaped to attract pollinators. All of the petals of a flower are collectively known as the ''corolla''. Petals are usually ...
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.[ 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.][
]
Fruits
Fruits are capsules with 3-compartments, each having many reddish-brown seeds.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15388742
latifolia
Flora of the Western United States
Flora without expected TNC conservation status