Collinsia heterophylla

Life-forms

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Cladus: Asterids
Cladus: Lamiids
Ordo: Lamiales

Familia: Plantaginaceae
Tribus: Cheloneae
Genus: Collinsia
Species: Collinsia heterophylla
Name

Collinsia heterophylla G.Buist ex Graham
Synonyms

Collinsia bicolor Benth. (non Raf.)
References

W. J. Hooker, Bot. Mag. 65: t. 3695. 1838
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Collinsia heterophylla in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service. Accessed: 07-Oct-06.

Collinsia heterophylla, known as purple Chinese houses[2] or innocence, is a flowering plant native to California and the Peninsular Ranges in northern Baja California.[1]

Description

Collinsia heterophylla is an annual plant growing in shady places, 10–50 centimetres (4–20 in) in height. It can be found in most of California (other than desert regions) below about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft).

It blooms from mid spring to early summer. Like other species in the genus Collinsia, which also includes the blue-eyed Marys, it gets its name from its towers of inflorescences of decreasing diameter, which give the plants in full flower a certain resemblance to a pagoda.

Dried in air, the seeds weigh about 1 mg each.
Varieties

Collinsia heterophylla var. austromontana[3]
Collinsia heterophylla var. heterophylla[4]

Taxonomy

The species was first described as Collinsia bicolor by George Bentham in 1835, but this name proved to be a later homonym of Collinsia bicolor Raf. (described in 1824), necessitating the name change to C. heterophylla. Despite this, the name C. bicolor is still sometimes used in references.[5]
Gallery

Collinsia heterophylla is also known by the common name Chinese Houses.

Pressed and dried Collinsia heterophylla in an herbarium.

Collinsia heterophylla blossoms on a stalk.

References

ITIS Standard Report Page: Collinsia heterophylla
USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Collinsia heterophylla". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
USDA: Collinsia heterophylla var. austromontana
USDA: Collinsia heterophylla var. heterophylla
USDA: Classification (taxonomy)