The colors below indicate the kind of documentation available for this species
in the California counties where it occurs.
Gilia Gilia leptalea ssp. bicolor (Polemoniaceae)
One might ask why this subspecies received the name bicolor in view of the fact that its flowers have pink corolla lobes, a yellow throat, and occasional purple striping. Scientific names are not always descriptive. It seems likely that the author of this taxon chose to emphasize the two colors that are invariably present in each flower. The 70 species of Gilia can be divided into two taxonomic groupings technically referred to as sections—Arachnion and Kelloggia. Species in the former section are characterized by cobwebby hairs in the leaf axils and the latter lack these hairs. This Gilia belongs to the second grouping.
DISTRIBUTION: Locally common in open rocky areas in forests and meadows of the central and southern High Sierra Nevada; 2200-3100 m.
