Ipomopsis laxiflora

Manual of the Plants of Colorado (Harrington 1954), Allred and Ivey 2012, Flora of the Great Plains (McGregor et al. 1986), Manual of the Plants of Texas (Correll and Johnston 1970)

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Annual, or possibly sometimes biennial herbs, 10-40 cm tall; stems erect, branching, glabrous, sometimes glandular-puberulent above. Leaves: Alternate along the stems; lower leaves pinnately dissected into filiform or narrowly linear lobes; upper leaves entire or few-lobed. Flowers: White to blue, showy, in loose, somewhat flat-topped panicles, on slender peduncles 1 cm or more long; calyx consisting of 5 spine-tipped sepals, 5-6 mm long, connected to each other by papery membranes; corolla salverform and 5-lobed, white or tinged with blue, the tube 15-25 mm long and the lobes 3-5 mm long; anthers included within the corolla. Fruits: Capsules 7-10 mm long, with 4-6 seeds per locule. Ecology: Found on hills, plains, and mesas, from 4,000-7,000 ft (1219-2134 m); flowers April-September. Distribution: e NM, e CO, KS, TX Notes: This annual Ipomopsis is most similar to I. longiflora, but more delicate with smaller parts. It tends to be under 40 cm tall (I. longiflora can grow to up to 1 meter tall); most notably, the flowers are smaller, with corolla tubes 1.5 to 2.5 cm long (I. longifolia has corolla tubes 2-5 cm long). Look for this species on the eastern plains of New Mexico and Colorado, and into west Texas. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Ipomopsis means like Ipomoea, the morning glory genus; laxiflora means loose-flowered, probably referring to the panicle architecture. Editor: AHazelton 2017