Ipomopsis aggregata
(Scarlet Gilia)
Ipomopsis aggregata (Scarlet gilia)
Polemoniaceae (Phlox family)
I. aggregata is native to a long slice of western North America, from southern Canada to northern Mexico, from the west coast east to Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas.
And within that big range, it grows in a lot of different habitats. It's in forests and grasslands, mingles with sagebrush, clings to rocky slopes and invades disturbed areas like trails and roadsides.
It's both easy and difficult to ID. Easy because the flowers and foliage are distinctive. Difficult because seems to adapt quickly to different habitats, leading to a lot of small variations. In fact, at one time Ipomopsis was divided into more than two dozen species. More on that later.
On a rocky ledge or in a field or a forest, the bright scarlet flowers catch your eye. Oddly, in a photo, the full plant in it's natural setting often gets lost in the background. I think it's because the flowers are so narrow and spread out.
In any case, you can't help but notice Ipomopsis. And once you see it, you've identified it by genus and all that's left is the species.
The flowers are trumpet-shaped tubes from a half inch to 1 1/2 inches (14-40 mm) long. The tube widens to less than a quarter inch (6 mm) at the throat, then splits into 5 pointy, often twisted lobes.
The stamens start about halfway down the tube and are slightly different lengths. They put the anthers either right at the throat or slightly exerted. The stigma can be a little longer than the stamens.
The flowers can be all scarlet or mottled with white or yellow blotches on the lobes. Some plants grow both scarlet and white leaves.
The base of the flower is surrounded by a glandular pubescent calyx. It's a few mm long; much shorter than the corolla. Five lobes narrow to sharp (acuminate) points.
Just below the calyx are five pubescent, pointy bracts. The flowers are supported by short stalks.
The leaves green and reddish; deeply and narrowly lobed -- almost fern-like. They're pilose, with short white hairs. The leaves are long at the base, and get shorter as they get higher on the stem.
Ipomopsis aggregata dies shortly after it produces seeds, but different plants bloom all through the summer and into early autumn.
Ipomopsis varies a lot. That's made taxonomy difficult. At one time Ipomopsis was listed as 27 different species.
Now it's down to a few species and some subspecies, including a rare (and imperiled) one named after our own Bill Webber. That one is Ipomopsis aggregata (Pursh) Grant ssp. weberi or, commonly (if a rare plant can have a common name), Weber's ipomopsis or Rabbit Ears gilia. It grows in southwest Wyoming and northwest Colorado.