Erythranthe inconspicua

Annuals, fibrous-rooted. Stems erect to ascending, simple or branched from base, 4-angled, 3–16 cm, glabrous. Leaves basal and cauline; petiole: proximals 1–5 mm, mid cauline and distals 0 mm; blade palmately 3-veined, broadly elliptic to ovate or broadly ovate, 6–20 × 6–12 mm, base rounded to cordate, margins subentire to denticulate, apex obtuse to acute or acuminate, surfaces sparsely villous. Flowers plesiogamous, 1–12, from proximal to distal nodes. Fruiting pedicels 5–15 mm, glabrous. Fruiting calyces campanulate, 6–9 mm, margins subtruncate, glabrous, lobes reduced, subequal. Corollas pale-pink to rose-pink or purple to magenta, throat sometimes yellow, lobes sometimes yellowish with pale rose spots, bilaterally symmetric, weakly bilabiate; tube-throat cylindric, 5–9 mm, exserted beyond calyx margin; limb expanded 5–6 mm. Styles glabrous. Anthers included, minutely villous-hirsute. Capsules included, 4–9 mm.

Phenology: Flowering Apr–Jun(–Jul).
Habitat: Steep, north- or northwest-facing slopes, canyon walls, moist talus, granitic sand on outcrops, moist gravelly open spots, sandy lakeshores, hillside streams or seeps, riparian woodlands, grassy slopes, gray pine, yellow pine, yellow pine-Kellogg oak, chaparral, Pseudotsuga-Pinus-Cornus, canyon live oak woodlands.
Elevation: 200–2100 m.

Calif.

Discussion

Erythranthe inconspicua occurs in Sierran counties from Kern north to El Dorado and then is apparently disjunct further northward to Butte County. A record from Los Angeles County (Bigelow s.n., 14 May 1854, the type of the species) is probably mislabeled, as other collections by Bigelow on the same day are from Calaveras County.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa