''Aliciella subnuda'' (synonym ''Gilia subnuda'', common name - coral gilia or carmine gilia) is a biennial or
perennial plant
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
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 the
Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States.
[Canyon Country Wildflowers, Damian Fagan, 2nd ed., 2012, Morris Bush Publishing, LLC. in cooperation with Canyonlands Natural History Association, ]
Description
Growth pattern
It is a biennial or perennial plant growing from a
basal rosette.
[
Sticky leaves and stems catch blowing sand and dirt giving them a sandy coating.][
]
Leaves and stems
lobed leaves are spatula shaped or egg shaped with sticky hairs.[
Stems are thin and sticky.][
]
Inflorescence and fruit
It blooms from May to July.[ Clustering at the ends of the stems, reddish or carmine flowers have a long corolla tube flaring to 5 lobes.][
]
Habitat and range
It can be found in warm desert shrub
Deserts and xeric shrublands are a biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Deserts and xeric (ancient Greek xērós, “dry") shrublands form the largest terrestrial biome, covering 19% of Earth's land surface area. Ecoregions in this ...
, pinyon juniper woodland Pinon, Piñon, Piñón, or Pinyon may refer to:
* Pinyon pine (piñon pine), a group of several species of North American pine trees (genus ''Pinus'')
** the edible pine nuts of these trees
** Pinyon-juniper woodland
* the edible seeds of the Sout ...
, and ponderosa pine forest
Ponderosa pine forest is a plant association and plant community dominated by ponderosa pine and found in western North America. It is found from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast Ranges in the Western United States and Western Canada. In t ...
communities across the southwestern United States.[
]
Ecological and human interactions
Flowers are pollinated by bee
Bees are winged insects closely related to wasps and ants, known for their roles in pollination and, in the case of the best-known bee species, the western honey bee, for producing honey. Bees are a monophyly, monophyletic lineage within the ...
s and hummingbirds.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q15390031
subnuda
Flora of the Southwestern United States
Biennial plants
Flora of the Western United States