Plectritis ciliosa

Wiggins 1964, Jepson 1993, Kearney and Peebles 1969

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous annuals, erect, angled and sparingly branched, glabrous, 5-55 cm tall. Leaves: Opposite, the upper leaves oblong, the lower leaves spatulate or obovate, margins entire, lower leaves on short petioles, upper leaves sessile, 2-6 cm long below. Flowers: Small, deep pink, corollas 1.5-3.5 mm long, 2-lipped and narrowly funnelform, lower lip with 2 red spots, spur slender, pointed, inflorescences borne in dense, terminal or subterminal clusters, often forming narrow, interrupted panicles. Fruits: Achenes, keeled and grooved on the convex side, winged on the concave side, wing margins thick, grooved lengthwise. Ecology: Found in deep to partially shaded slopes below 5,500 ft (1676 m), flowers February-May. Distribution: Ranges across the lower Sonoran Desert, north to Washington state and into Baja California. Notes: Distinctive with its annual habit, glabrous herbage, opposite leaves and deep purple, funnelform corolla that is borne in a complex, dense cluster. Ethnobotany: Unknown Etymology: Plectritis is from the Latin plecto to plait, a reference to the complex inflorescence, while ciliosa means ciliate. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher and SBuckley, 2011