E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Gilia capitata Sims
blue field gilia (bluehead gilia; globe gilia)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Jim Riley  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #65899)

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Distribution of Gilia capitata
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Gilia capitata var. capitata

Species Information

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General:
Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, slender, simple or few-branched, hairless or glandular-hairy or obscurely white-woolly, 15-100 cm tall.
Leaves:
Basal leaves pinnately cleft, the lowermost 1 to 2 times pinnately cleft with slender axis and narrow ultimate segments 1-15 mm long, 1-2 mm wide; stem leaves similar to the basal, alternate, reduced upwards, the axils and midribs generally white-hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescences dense, ball-like clusters of 50 to 100 stalkless flowers, the clusters on long bractless stalks terminating the stem and branches; corollas pale blue, 6-10 mm long, the tube flaring to five linear-oblong (1 mm wide) lobes about as long as the tube; calyces expanded in fruit, the five lobes pointy-tipped.
Fruits:
Capsules, egg-shaped to spherical, with three 1- to 3-seeded chambers; seeds 1.5 mm long, becoming sticky when moistened.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / Range

Dry, sandy, gravelly or rocky waste places in the lowland, steppe, and montane zones; rare in S BC, where probably introduced; WA and OR; S to N ID and CA; reported as introduced in AK and YT.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is not evaluated, unknown or variable.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References