''Saltugilia latimeri'' is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Latimer's woodland gilia. It 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 ...

, where it is known from several scattered occurrences in the western

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 outlying areas to the north. It occurs in dry rocky and sandy desert canyons. It was first described as a species in 2001.Weese, T. L. and L. A. Johnson. (2001). ''Saltugilia latimeri'': A new species of Polemoniaceae. ''Madroño'' 48:3 198-204. This is an annual herb with a branching stem growing erect to a maximum height near 30 centimeters. The

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 ...

is a branching array of small flowers. Each flower has a calyx of gland-dotted

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 and a tubular corolla roughly a centimeter long. The corolla has five pink lobes darkening to purple in the throat. The protruding

stamen The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

s bear blue

pollen Pollen is a powdery substance produced by seed plants. It consists of pollen grains (highly reduced microgametophytes), which produce male gametes (sperm cells). Pollen grains have a hard coat made of sporopollenin that protects the gametophyt ...

on their anthers.

References

External links

Jepson Manual TreatmentThe Nature Conservancy
Polemoniaceae Endemic flora of California Plants described in 2001 {{Polemoniaceae-stub