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The genus Gilia is highly inclusive and variable and many of its members hybridize. A Utah Flora, The Intermountain Flora, and Colorado Flora, Western Slope give various names, descriptions, and keys for the Gilia genus. Many Four Corners Gilias are lumped into Gilia inconspicua by the first two books and into Gilia ophthalmoides in the latter. Utah flora expert, Stanley Welsh, says, "the large number of names [given to each Gilia species] is indicative of the variation within... annual, small-flowered Gilias". The Gilia genus has been reexamined often. Especially from the work of Verne Grant, Alva Day, and Mark Porter a number of Gilia species have been placed in other genera: Giliastrum, Saltugilia, Navarretia, Ipomopsis, Aliciella, Allophyllum, and Linanthus. Ruiz and Pavon collected the first Gilia, Gilia laciniata, in Peru or Chile and they described it in their 1794, Prodromus Florae Peruvianal et Chilensis (A Preliminary Treatise on the Flora of Peru and Chile). Ruiz and Pavon named Gilia for Filippo Luigi Gilii (1756-1821), Italian clergyman and naturalist. The species name should be pronounced with a soft g: "Gee lee uh". See Biographies of Naturalists for more information. |
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Gilia
ophthalmoides. Synonyms: Gilia inconspicua, Gilia ophthalmoides subspecies clokeyi, Gilia clokeyi. (Eyed Gilia) Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Openings. Spring. This very slender Gilia has the typical Gilia basal rosette of leaves, tiny flowers that can range from white to blue to pink, and penchant for seemingly inhospitable, barren, hot ground. Gilia ophthalmoides is very common in the Four Corners area, but because it is so slender it goes unnoticed and unappreciated. The very similar Gilia clokeyi has smaller corollas (4-8 mm vs. 7-12 mm) with white to pale blue vs. yellow throats, and the corolla lobes are equal to or longer than the throat vs. lobes shorter than the throat. The nomenclatural lineage of this plant is convoluted and disputed: It was collected prior to 1804 by someone, probably in America, grown from seed in England, and named Ipomopsis inconspicua in 1804. Frederick Pursh renamed it Cantua parviflora in 1814, Rydberg named it Gilia inconspicua in 1904, August Brand named it Gilia ophthalmoides, in 1907, and it has endured many other names in its two hundred year scientific history. 20th century Gilia expert, Verne Grant, accepted the name, Gilia ophthalmoides subspecies clokeyi. Some botanists have raised the latter to species level, Gilia clokeyi. The species name, "ophthalmoides", is from the Greek for "appearing like the eye". |
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Gilia
ophthalmoides. Synonyms: Gilia inconspicua, Gilia ophthalmoides subspecies clokeyi,, Gilia clokeyi. (Eyed Gilia) Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Openings. Spring. The corolla (the flower with both its yellow and pink segments) is much longer than the calyx (red striped surface surrounding the base of the corolla). The corolla tube (yellow) is much longer than the pink lobes. These are some of the characteristics that separate this Gilia from other Gilia and other Polemoniaceae species. |
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Gilia
ophthalmoides. Synonyms: Gilia inconspicua, Gilia ophthalmoides subspecies clokeyi,, Gilia clokeyi. (Eyed Gilia) Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Openings. Spring. Gilia ophthalmoides' lower stem is often twice the diameter of the upper stem, especially when the plants are young. Cobwebby hairs cover the stem on young plants. Hairs are not evident on the older plant above. It is common for plants to lose their hairs as the plants age. |
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Gilia
ophthalmoides. Synonyms: Gilia inconspicua, Gilia ophthalmoides subspecies clokeyi,, Gilia clokeyi. (Eyed Gilia) Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family) Semi-desert, foothills. Openings. Spring. A close look with a hand lens or a close-up camera lens shows a myriad of ball-tipped glandular hairs. Depending on the species, such hairs can impart a stickiness and/or a pleasant smell to the plant. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Gilia ophthalmoides Range map for Navarretia sinistra Note: The Navarretia sinistra shown on this page extends this range map into the southwest corner of Colorado, Montezuma County. |