''Downingia bella'', also known as Hoover's calicoflower or Hoover's Downingia, is a member of the Bellflower Family (

Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants belon ...

). The genus is named after A.J. Downing (1815–1852) a noted American horticulturist and landscape architect. This native annual herb is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and found in valley grassland communities. Its habitat is wetlands, generally

vernal pool Vernal pools, also called vernal ponds or ephemeral pools, are seasonal pools of water that provide habitat for distinctive plants and animals. They are considered to be a distinctive type of wetland usually devoid of fish, and thus allow the safe ...

s between 4600 and 5250 feet (1400 to 1600m). As approximately 20% of vernal pools in California have been lost, ''D. bella'' is uncommon. The range of ''D. bella'' is scattered from locations in

Riverside County Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the Unit ...

to areas in the

Great Central Valley The Central Valley is a broad, elongated, flat valley that dominates the interior of California. It is wide and runs approximately from north-northwest to south-southeast, inland from and parallel to the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Coastal Califor ...

Description

Like all ''Downingia'', the stem is decumbent to erect with leaves that are along the stem and often fall before the plant flowers. The flowers are not sessile and in a spike inflorescence with individual flowers having a corolla length of 10 to 12 mm. The corolla is glabrous and has 2 distinct lips, the upper with 2 lobes and lower with 3 lobes. The upper lobes are narrowly triangular or elliptic in shape while the lower lobes are obtuse and abruptly toothed. The corolla is blue with the lower lip having a central white field which then has two yellow spots (can be joined) in its middle. At the throat ''D. bella'' has 2 raised nipples that generally have 3 alternating purple spots. The 5 fused stamens have anthers that are included in the corolla tube and are angled less than 45 degrees to filaments. The inferior ovary is pedicel-like and is 2 chambered. The fruits of ''D. bella'' are between 16 and 18 mm with tough lateral walls that are tardily dehiscent despite no noticeable translucent lines. The seeds within the fruit are longitudinally striate. Some areas in northern Sutter County have ''D. bella'' with a minute corolla horn similar to '' D. ornatissima''.

References

Jepson Manual TreatmentUSDA Plants Profilewww.calflora.orgPhoto gallery

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q2654463 Flora of California

bella Bella is a feminine given name. It is a diminutive form of names ending in -bella. ''Bella'' is related to the Italian, Spanish, Greek, Portuguese and Latin words for beautiful, to the name Belle, meaning ''beautiful'' in French. It increased in ...