Sticky Gilia Aliciella pinnatifida Phlox family (Polemoniaceae)
This lovely splash of color likes to grow on gravelly, rocky areas with little competition from other plants. It even grows on piles of old mine debris and on gravel bars. Plants typically grow 8-12 inches tall but may be as much as two feet tall. The numerous hairs (that appear as dots covering the tube below the flower) give rise to one common name, "Sticky Gilia." The plant was first collected by Thomas Nuttall along the Lewis River in the 1830s and Nuttall named the plant. In 1998 Mark Porter placed it in a new , Aliciella, named for famed Colorado and California botanist, Alice Eastwood.
or plants with stems to 1 1/2' tall usually single from a , simple, or branched above the base, erect, hairy, , and often sticky (imparting a noticeable sweet smell). Leaves into or narrowly segments about 1/10 to 1/4" long, . open, often compound from branches bearing flowers. , united for 2/3 or more of its length. from 1/4 to 1/3" long, blue or purple, with a slender tube and an abrupt wide opening. conspicuously . a .
stamen -- the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower;
The stamen consists of an anther supported by a filament.
A perennial plant lives and blooms for many years.
pinnatifid -- A leaf shape that is pinnately lobed but not cut all the way to the axis.
corolla -- The name for all the petals of a flower taken together.
capsule -- a type of simple, dry fruit produced by many species of flowering plants. In
most cases the capsule splits apart to release seeds.
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem.
taproot -- The primary decending root of a plant.
Glands are plant structures that secrete liquids, salts or other substances.
Glands often appear as hairs with a drop of liquid at the end.
calyx -- the sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses
the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud.
fruit -- any seed-bearing structure in flowering plants.
It is formed from the ovary after flowering.
biennial -- a plant which lives for two years, producing a basal rosette of leaves
the first year and a full plant, flower, and seed the second year followed by
the death of the entire plant at the end of the second year.
basal leaves -- a leaf that grows lowest on the stem of a plant.
genus -- A subdivision of a botanical Family in which all members have a significant
number of similar characteristics.
oblong -- Having an elongated form with somewhat parallel sides. Rectangular.
