Linanthus caespitosus

PLANT: Perennial, 3-5 cm tall, cespitose, mat-like, much branched throughout; stems ascending to erect, glandular and pilose. LEAVES: opposite, densely crowded, palmately lobed, the 3-5 lobes linear to narrowly oblong, glabrous to pubescent, spinulose, the upper leaves subtending clusters of short leaves. FLOWERS: sessile; calyx glabrous, narrowly campanulate, 2-7 mm long, the lobes slightly unequal, shorter than the tube, the hyaline membranes narrower than the herbaceous ribs; corolla nocturnal, closed during the day, salverform, 10-20 mm long, cream to yellow (bluish in AZ), the throat sometimes tinged lavender, the lobes 4(5); stamens 4(5), inserted on the upper tube; stigmas 2-3; ovary with 2-3 locules. NOTES: Rocky soils, cliff faces, shrubland and woodland; Yavapai Co., 900-1200 m (3000-4000 ft); May-Jun. NV to NE, s to CO. Arizona plants differ in their bluish corollas, higher proportion of 5 corolla lobes, and may represent a distinct species. REFERENCES: Dieter H. Wilken and J. Mark Porter, 2005, Vascular Plants of Arizona: Polemoniaceae. CANOTIA 1: 1-37.