logo Calflora, a 501c3 non-profit
Taxon  Report  
Collinsia heterophylla  Buist ex Graham
Purple chinese houses
Collinsia heterophylla is an annual herb that is native to California, and found only slightly beyond California borders.
Siskiyou Del Norte Modoc Humboldt Shasta Lassen Trinity Plumas Tehama Butte Mendocino Glenn Sierra Yuba Lake Nevada Colusa Placer Sutter El Dorado Yolo Alpine Napa Sonoma Sacramento Mono Amador Solano Calaveras Tuolumne San Joaquin Marin Contra Costa Alameda Santa Cruz Mariposa Madera San Francisco San Mateo Merced Fresno Stanislaus Santa Clara Inyo San Benito Tulare Kings Monterey San Bernardino San Luis Obispo Kern Santa Barbara Ventura Los Angeles Riverside Orange San Diego Imperial
DJJJASONAFMM

Bloom Period
Subspecies and Varieties:
Genus: Collinsia
Family: Plantaginaceae  
(Scrophulariaceae)
Category: angiosperm  
PLANTS group:Dicot
Jepson eFlora section: eudicot

Habitat: slopes

Communities: Yellow Pine Forest, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, Valley Grassland, many plant communities

Name Status:
Accepted by JEF + PLANTS

Information about  Collinsia heterophylla from other sources
Nursery availability from CNPLX
This plant is available commercially.
Jepson eFlora

USDA PLANTS Profile (COHE)

Photos on Calflora

Photos on CalPhotos

Google Images

Photos on iNaturalist

ID Tips on PlantID.net

[wildflower.org] Description: Lush white, rose & purple blooms are tiered in whorls near the top of the 2 ft. stalks of this annual. Bilaterally symmetrical flowers in several widely spaced whorls at top of a sparsely leafy stem. The flowers have a lilac or white upper lip and a rose-purple or violet lower lip. Bright-green, lance-shaped leaves clasp the stem. A velvety fuzz often covers the entire plant, including the flowers. Few of California's spectacular wildflowers are as charming as this one. The flowers grow in perfect rings of widely spaced bands around the stem, forming a fairytale pagoda, the "Chinese houses." There are about 20 Collinsia species, most in California, distinguished from other genera by the corolla's folded middle lower lobe. In this respect it resembles members of the Pea Family, which, however, have 5 petals not joined into a tubular base, and usually 10 stamens rather than 4. (contributed by Mary Ann Machi)


Suggested Citation
Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals. [web application]. 2024. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: https://www.calflora.org/   (Accessed: 03/29/2024).