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Taxon  Report  
Collinsia heterophylla  Buist ex Graham  var. heterophylla 
Purple chinese houses,   Chinese-Houses
Collinsia heterophylla var. 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
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Bloom Period
Parent: Collinsia heterophylla
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 var. heterophylla from other sources
Nursery availability from CNPLX
Commercial availability unknown.
Jepson eFlora

USDA PLANTS Profile (COHEH)

Photos on Calflora

Photos on CalPhotos

Google Images

Photos on iNaturalist

ID Tips on PlantID.net

[Wikipedia] Description & Range: Collinsia heterophylla, known as purple Chinese houses or innocence, is a flowering plant native to California and the Peninsular Ranges in northern Baja California. Description Collinsia heterophylla is an annual plant growing in shady places, 10 to 50 centimetres (4 to 20 in) in height. It can be found in most of California (other than desert regions) below about 1,000 metres (3,300 ft). It blooms from mid spring to early summer. Like other species in the genus Collinsia, which also includes the blue-eyed Marys, it gets its name from its towers of inflorescences of decreasing diameter, which give the plants in full flower a certain resemblance to a pagoda. Dried in air, the seeds weigh about 1 mg each. (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: 03/28/2024).