Star Gilia Flower Star Gilia Flower Star Gilia Stem Star Gilia Leaves Star Gilia Plant

Wildflowers of Southern Arizona


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Star Gilia.
Gilia stellata.
Phlox (Polemoniaceae) family.

Duration: Annual. Nativity: Native. Lifeform: Forb/Herb. General: Erect annual with stout stems, to 40 cm tall, simple or branching from the base, lower leaves and stems faintly hoary with short, white, genticulate hairs, upper stems and leaves with shorter, glandular hairs. Leaves: Basal leaves bipinnate, 2-10 cm long, lobes rounded with 2-7 apiculate teeth, upper leaves shorter and less dissected. Flowers: Pale blue to white, with a ring of purple spots in the throat, corolla funnelform with acuminate lobes, the lobes as long or longer than the corolla throat, flowers borne singly on glandular pedicels, calyx pubescent with glandular or genticulate hairs, stamens inserted. Fruits: Capsules subglobose, 5-7 mm long, dehiscing between 3 valves running from the top to the middle of the capsule, seeds 5-10 in each cell, mucilaginous. Ecology: Found in washes and on slopes in lower desert regions, below 6,000 ft (1700 m); flowering March-May. Notes: One of the taller Gilia species. Etymology: Gilia is named for Filippo Luigi Gilii (1756-1821) an Italian naturalist, while stellata means stellate or with star like spreading hairs.

Santa Catalina Mountains.
Sabino Canyon Recreation Area
Location: Bluff Trail.
3/8/19

Notes: iNaturalist reviewed the photos and contributed G. stellata as the species. (Reviewed by S. Jones)

See SEINet Pictures and Description

Thumb: Miniature Woollystar
« M. Woollystar
Thumb: Lesser Yellowthroat Gilia
L. Y. Gilia »