''Gilia aliquanta'' is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name puffcalyx gilia. It is native to the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

mountains and deserts of southeastern

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 southern

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. It is a small herb producing a thin, spreading stem up to about 16 centimeters long, sometimes laced with cobwebby fibers. The fleshy, lobed leaves are each 1 to 3 centimeters long and located in a cluster around the base of the stem. The glandular

inflorescence An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed o ...

bears one or more flowers, each between one and two centimeters in total length. The base of the flower is a puffy saclike calyx of

sepal 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 ...

s which is ribbed, thin and membranous between the ribs and purple to purple spotted in color. The face of the flower is a lavender to purple corolla. The fruit is a valved, oval capsule.

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentPhoto gallery

References

aliquanta Flora of Nevada Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Flora without expected TNC conservation status {{Polemoniaceae-stub