?Linanthus nuttallii or gilia nuttallii?

Hello Caroline,

I love a good mystery, and this one just sent me down a long review of the genus Linanthus; I blissfully while away the hours when I'm supposed to be working and studying this weekend!  Even though these are annuals, I'm totally smitten with their charm and now want to create a sandy/rocky bed for these little delights.  Seems that most of them are Californian, although there are species that range throughout the western states, and most species are now designated as Leptosiphon.  Since I give a bunch of CalPhoto links here, they still use Linanthus rather than Leptosiphon, so I will refer to them here as Linanthus.

I think you were close with Linanthus nuttallii (and there are 4 subspecies, so this plant takes many forms).
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=LENU8

Once I combed through some floras and the CalPhotos, I believe the closest match is Linanthus grandiflorus.  It also looks similar to L. nuttallii and L. pachyphyllus, but I'd bet money on L. grandiflorus.  :)

Linanthus grandiflorus
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0606+1090
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0403+0936
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=8253+3202+0179+0107
...great closeup:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0606+1096

Linanthus nuttallii (bushier, leaf internodes closer together)
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=6105+1651+0976+0061
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=1335+3153+0216+0004
...some forms are rather dense growing:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0708+0201

Linanthus pachyphyllus
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0805+0583
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0706+0708
...based on the closeup detail, the involucre bracts and terminal leaves are more entire, less dissected:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?enlarge=0000+0000+0706+0710

To while away hours of Linanthus oogling, start here:
http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-lifeform=any&rel-taxon=contains&where-taxon=Linanthus&rel-namesoup=matchphrase&where-namesoup=&rel-location=matchphrase&where-location=&rel-county=eq&where-county=any&rel-state=eq&where-state=any&rel-country=eq&where-country=any&where-collectn=any&rel-photographer=contains&where-photographer=&rel-kwid=equals&where-kwid=&max_rows=24

Lori wrote:

Does anyone know of a source that offers a good assortment of Linanthus sp. seed?

After a quickie google search, found this one, lots of nice colorful California annuals; I would welcome many of them to color up the summer garden if they'd grow... they do have Linanthus grandiflorus, said to be very fragrant, and in several tinges of color.
http://www.larnerseeds.com/_pages/wildflower_annual.html

Now promise me Lori, you're not going to buy them out before I've had a chance!  ;)

Holy moly, I was googling around for Linanthus seed, and discovered that a version of Abram's "An Illustrated Flora of the Pacific States" is completely online, for free, as a Google eBook.  This link should take you to the Linanthus section, with L. grandiflorus found on Page 426!

http://books.google.com/books?id=WSasAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA430&dq=seed+california+linanthus&hl=en&ei=xhbATp60J4r50gGc6LjQBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=seed%20california%20linanthus&f=false

Lori wrote:

Oh, come now, would I do that?!? ;D ;D
I'm very tempted to get the wildflower mixes to cast around in an empty spot or two.   (Imagine that... wildflower mixes made of actual native wildflowers.  ;))

Tell me, Lori, do you say that Californian wildflowers are native to your Albertan pastures? :o

I have tried to spread annuals around both native and foreign but the problem is: I have no empty space!

I posted my response to the leptodactylon thread by mistake. The plant pictured is Linanthus grandiflorus. An annual, you just scatter the seed and sometimes get a very impressive stand.

Bob