Gilias of genus Ipomopsis are taprooted annual to perennial herbs with alternate and basal leaves, which are entire or toothed to more often pinnately lobed or divided in 3's, without well-defined leaflets. The mostly numerous flowers are borne in open to dense clusters. The calyx is slightly or barely enlarged after flowering, with prominent membranous or thin, dry, translucent intervals between the 5 more herb-like midribs or segments. It is commonly ruptured by the developing capsule. The tips have a small spine-tip. The corolla is bell-shaped to more often funnel-shaped or with a narrow tube, abruptly flaring into a spreading limb with 5 lobes. The flowers are variously colored. The filaments are generally equal in length and equally (occasionally unequally) inserted in the corolla tube or at the recesses. There are 1 to many seeds per ovary cell (or some ovary cells being empty), in most species the surface becoming slimy when moistened. The genus consists of about 30 species worldwide, native to N. and S. America, mainly in w. U.S., especially in CA. Some authors include Ipomopsis in the genus Gilia.
Guide to Identify Presented Species of Genus Ipomopsis
FLOWERS WHITE OR PINKISH
I. spicata – Spiked Gilia Perennial, 5-30 cm tall, thinly cobwebby-woolly-hairy. Dry, open places.
Flowers white, about 1 cm long, numerous in a dense, rounded top cluster.
Leaves 3-parted or pinnatifid, 1-6 cm long, with very narrow segments.
