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Gilia (Gilia)

Description

Gilia is a genus of between 25 and 50 species of flowering plants in the family Polemoniaceae, native to temperate and tropical regions of the Americas, from the western United States south to northern Chile, where they occur mainly in desert or semi-desert habitats. They are herbaceous annuals, rarely perennials, growing to 10-120 cm tall. The leaves are spirally arranged, usually pinnate (rarely simple), forming a basal rosette in most species. The flowers are produced in a panicle, with a five-lobed corolla, which can be blue, white, pink or yellow. Gilia species are used as food plants by the larvae of some Lepidoptera species including Schinia aurantiaca and Schinia biundulata (the latter feeds exclusively on G. cana).

Taxonomic tree

  • Domain: Eukarya

    • Kingdom: Plantae

      • Phylum: Magnoliophyta

        • Class: Magnoliopsida

          • Order: Solanales

            • Family: Polemoniaceae

              • Genus: Gilia