There are several kinds of Collomia, almost all annuals; leaves
alternate, usually toothless; flowers in clusters; differing from Gilia
and Linanthus in the calyx, which increases in size as it grows older;
corolla tube-shaped, funnel-form, or salver-form, with spreading lobes;
stamens unequally inserted on the corolla-tube, with unequal filaments;
seeds usually mucilaginous.
[Sidenote: _Collòmia grandiflòra (Gilia)_
=Buff
Summer
Cal., Utah, Wash.=]
Very pretty flowers, which attract attention because of their unusual
coloring. The leafy stem is from one to two feet tall and slightly
downy and the leaves are generally toothless, smooth, and rather dark
green. The flowers form a roundish terminal cluster, which is about
two inches across, surrounded by broad bracts, which are sticky to
the touch. The corolla is funnel-form, about an inch long, various
shades of buff or salmon-color, and as the downy buds are yellow, the
newly-opened flowers buff, and the older ones pinkish or cream-white,
the combinations of color are odd and effective. This is quite common
in Yosemite, in warm situations, and much cultivated in Germany. It is
sometimes called Wild Bouvardia, but this is a poor name, as it is that
of a plant belonging to an entirely different family.
[Sidenote: _Collòmia lineàris (Gilia)_
=Pink
Summer
West=]
From six inches to over a foot tall, with a rather stout, very leafy
stem, more or less branching, and alternate leaves, smooth, toothless,
and rather dark green, the upper stems and buds hairy and sticky.
The flowers have no pedicels and narrow funnel-form or salver-form
corollas, bright pink, about a quarter of an inch across, and are
crowded in roundish clusters, at the tips of the leafy branches, the
larger clusters toward the top. Though the tiny flowers are bright and
pretty this is not an effective plant. It grows in dry, open, sandy
places and the foliage has a rather disagreeable smell when crushed.
[Illustration: Collomia grandiflora.