Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Gilia stellata, Star Gila

Gilia stellata, Star GilaGilia stellata, Star GilaGilia stellata, Star GilaGilia stellata, Star GilaGilia stellata, Star Gila


Scientific Name: Gilia stellata
Common Name: Star Gila
Also Called: Gilia, Star Gily-flower
Family: Polemoniaceae, Jacob’s Ladder or Phlox Family
Synonyms: ()
Status: Native
Duration: Annual
Size: Up to 2 feet more or less.
Growth Form: Forb/herb; erect, hairy below, multiple branches, stems gland-dotted above.
Leaves: Green; basal rosette, pinnate.
Flower Color: White, pink with purple spots; calyx pubescent or glandular, corolla funnelform, the tube 2 times the calyx, throat yellow, purple spots; flowers 4 or more per stem; fruit a capsule.
Flowering Season: March to April, March to May in California.
Elevation: Up to 2,500 feet.

Habitat Preferences: Dry rocky slopes and sandy slopes, desert shrub-lands and woodlands.

Recorded Range: Star Gila is found in the southwestern United States, Baja California and northern Mexico. In the United States it is found in AZ, CA, NM, NV and UT. In Arizona it is found in the southwestern parts of the states with few or no records from Yuma county.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Gilia stellata.

U.S. Weed Information: No information available.
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: No information available.
Wetland Indicator: No information available.
Threatened/Endangered Information: No information available.

Genus Information: 33 and 73 accepted taxa overall in Gilia in North America; 12 species in Arizona, 29 species in California and 8 species in New Mexico and 4 species in Texas. The genus Gilia is primarily found in northwestern North America.

The Plant List includes 40 species for the genus Gilia world-wide.

Comments: Star Gila is closely related to Gilia scopulorum, distinguished by its short corolla tube which does not exceed the calyx (but which is long-exserted in Gilia scopulorum)

In Southwest Desert Flora also see; Lesser Yellowthroat Gilia, Gilia flavocincta and Rosy Gilia, Gilia sinuata.

Date Profile Completed: 05/03/2016, updated 05/19/2016, updated format 09/30/2017
References:
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database and USGS ITIS search, 05/04/2016
http://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=display&classid=GILIA
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California.
>Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 05/04/2016).
http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Polemoniaceae/Gilia/
Native Plant Information Network, NPIN (2013). Published on the Internet http://www.wildflower.org/plants/ [accessed: ]. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas, Austin, TX.
1993, The Jepson Manual, Citation: http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/interchange/I_treat_indexes.html (accessed , updated 05/08/2016)
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5654,5690,5769
SEINet for synonyms, scientific names, recorded geographic locations and general information
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/.