"Stem: hairy or glandular. Leaf: alternate, simple, entire to generally pinnate-lobed, linear to ovate [fan-shaped]; basal short-petioled; cauline sessile. Inflorescence: heads or clusters, terminal, or flowers 1--3 in axils. Flower: calyx lobes connected by narrow membrane forming a pitcher-like projection at sinus, enlarging, not rupturing in fruit; corolla salverform to funnel-shaped. Fruit: ovate to elliptic, explosively dehiscent, valves reflexed on dehiscence. Seed: 1(2--3) per chamber, oblong, generally gelatinous when wet, brown. Chromosomes: 2n=16.
Species In Genus: 15 species: North America, southern South America. Etymology: (Greek: glue, from wet seed surface) Note: Annual species self-pollinated; perennial herb species generally cross-pollinated. "
[Jepson]
General: "Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, unbranched when small but can have axillary branches if robust, finely hairy below, long-hairy and glandular or sticky above, 0.1-1 m tall." [IFBC-E-flora-1]
Leaves: "Basal leaves somewhat lobed, soon deciduous; stem leaves alternate, numerous, linear or lanceolate, 1-7 cm long, 2-13 mm wide, generally hairless above, glaucous and slightly glandular below, entire (basal somewhat lobed), the upper leaves (below the flower clusters) wider than the rest. [IFBC-E-flora-1]
Flowers: "Inflorescence of 1 to several, terminal, head-like clusters of unstalked flowers; corollas salmon- pink or yellow, the slender, flaring tube 20-30 mm long, spreading to five, 5-10 mm long lobes; calyces 7-10 mm long, the five lanceolate lobes to 4 mm long; pollen generally blue." [IFBC-E-flora-1]
Fruits: "Capsules, with 1-seeded chambers; seeds becoming sticky when moistened." [IFBC-E-flora-1]
Habitat/Range: "Dry to mesic meadows, rocky slopes, and openings in shrublands and forests in the lowland, steppe, and montane zones; infrequent on S Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the lower Fraser Valley, locally frequent in SC BC; S to MT, WY, AZ and CA." [IFBC-E-flora-1]
Status: Native [E-flora-1]
Vari-leaved collomia - Collomia heterophylla
Status: Native. [E-flora-2]
Habitat / Range: "Mesic forest openings, sandy or gravelly clearings, and streambanks in the lowland zone; locally frequent on S Vancouver Island, infrequent on the adjacent coast and lower Fraser Valley; S to ID, WY, AZ and CA." [IFBC-E-flora-2]
General: "Annual or biennial herb from a taproot; stems ascending to erect, simple or much-branched with several stems from the base, slimy-hairy especially above, 5-40 cm tall." [IFBC-E-flora-2]
Leaves: "Alternate, mostly stalked, usually hairy and slightly glandular; lower leaves 1-2 times pinnately cleft, the blades to 3.5 cm long and 2 cm wide; middle and upper leaves progressively less divided upwards, the uppermost leaves (below the flower clusters) smaller than the others, nearly unstalked, elliptic, merely toothed or entire." [IFBC-E-flora-2]
Flowers: "Inflorescence of dense, head-like, terminal (and sometimes axillary) clusters; corollas pink, lavender or white, the slightly flaring tube 8-17 mm long, spreading to five, 3- 4 mm long lobes; calyces 5-8 mm long, the five lobes narrowly lanceolate." [IFBC-E-flora-2]
Fruits: "Capsules, with 2- or 3-seeded chambers; seeds becoming sticky when moistened." [IFBC-E-flora-2]
Narrow-leaved collomia - Collomia linearis
General: "Annual herb from a taproot; stems erect, unbranched or branched above in robust plants, finely hairy below but long-hairy and glandular above, 10-60 cm tall." [IFBC-E-flora-3]
Leaves: "Alternate, numerous, linear or lanceolate, 1-5 cm long, 1-10 mm wide, generally hairless above, glaucous and minutely hairy and slightly glandular below, unstalked, entire; uppermost leaves (below the flower clusters) wider than the rest and often pale at the base." [IFBC-E-flora-3]
Flowers: "Inflorescence of 1 to several, terminal, head-like clusters of 7-20 unstalked flowers; corollas pink, bluish or white, the slender, trumpet-shaped tube 8-15 mm long, spreading to five short (1.5-3 mm) lobes; calyces 4-7 mm long, the five narrowly triangular lobes 1.5-3 mm long during flowering but elongating to 3-4 mm in fruit; pollen generally white." [IFBC-E-flora-3]
Fruits: "Capsules, with 1-seeded chambers; seeds becoming sticky when moistened." [IFBC-E-flora-3]
Status: Native
Habitat/Range: "Dry to moist open grasslands, clearings, old fields, roadsides, and other disturbed sites in the lowland, steppe, and montane zones; common in S BC, less so northward where possibly introduced in some localities; N to AK, YT and NT, E to NB and NS and S to NE, WI, NM and CA."
Key
Collomia
1 Most leaves irregularly pinnately lobed (corolla usually 10–15 mm long, bright pink, sometimes lavender or white) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. heterophylla, varied-leaved collomia
1 Leaves not lobed
2 Corolla (usually pale yellow, salmon, or pinkish, sometimes white) usually 20–25 mm long, the lobes to 10 mm long (plants commonly more than 20 cm tall, not branching from near the base but often with a few short upper branches) . . . . . . . . C. grandiflora, large-flowered collomia
2 Corolla not more than 15 mm long, the lobes not more than 3 mm long
3 Filaments of all stamens about the same length but attached to the corolla tube at distinctly different levels; corolla white to pink or bluish; plants to more than 40 cm tall (more common E than W of the crest of the Cascades) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C. linearis, narrow-leaf collomia
3 Filaments of stamens of very different lengths but attached to the corolla tube at about the same level; corolla lobes pink to lavender but the tube often reddish; plants not often more than 15 cm tall (if bruised, exuding a sap that stains yellow; Josephine and Jackson Cos., Oreg., to Calif.; widespread E of the Cascades) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . C. tinctoria, yellow-staining collomia [Kozloff PWO]
Other Uses
Container:C. grandiflora; Leaves used as a protective covering for filled berry containers.[2] [UMD-Eth-1]
Medicinal Uses
Dermatological Aid:C. linearis; [Heaton, 2004] Poultice of mashed plant applied to wounds and bruises.[1] [UMD-Eth-2]
Laxative:C. grandiflora; Infusion of leaves and stalks taken for constipation and to "clean out your system." Infusion of roots taken as a laxative.[1] [UMD-Eth-1]
Febrifuge:C. grandiflora; Infusion of roots taken for high fevers.[1] [UMD-Eth-1]
Phytochemistry
Twenty plant species were observed for tannin content. C. linearis showed the highest levels at 1.85%. [Khan et al., 2015]
"At the generic level nearly all species accumulate
A-7-rutinoside, K- and Q-3-rutinosides, Q-3-
galactoside, Q-3-arabinosylgalactoside and Q-3-
gentiobioside. C. macrocalyx is the only species
lacking the 3-rutinoside pathway and, with C.
diversifolia, lacks the Q-3-galactoside and A-7-
rutinoside." [Wilken1982]
"Analyses of extracts among populations of the 14 species of Collomia revealed the occurrence of 13 mono-, di- and triglycosides based on the flavonoids, acacetin, kaempferol, patuletinand quercetin. The glycosides included those having
arabinose, galactose, glucose and rhamnose as mono-, bio- or triosides at the 3-, 5-, 3,7- or 7-position. Analyses of floral
extracts from ten species revealed the occurrence of two anthocyanins, cyanidin and delphinidin 3-(p-coumarylglucosyl)-5-glucoside.... delphinidin-3-(pcoumarylglucoside)-5-glucoside in C. mazama and
cyanidin-3-(p-coumarylglucoside)-5-glucoside in
C. rawsoniana [7]." [Wilken1982]
Cultivation
C. linearis; Aphid Host Plant:Nasonovia colloniae[Chappell,2006]
Heaton, 2004 - An Ethnobotanical and Medical Research Literature Update on the Plant Species Collected in the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806, Darrall Heaton and Ara DerMarderosian, Bartonia, No. 62, Lewis and Clark Bicentennial: 1803-1806 — 2003-2006 (2004), pp. 63-93
Khan et al., 2015 - Assessment of Poisonous and Anti-Nutritional Compounds in Wild Edible Forages Consumed by Ruminant Species, Zafar Iqbal Khan, Kafeel Ahmad, Asma Zafar, Humayun Bashir, Abrar Hussain, Zile Huma, Hazoor Ahmad Shad, Muhammad Sher, Ghulam Hussain, Ijaz Rasool Noorka, Nudrat Aisha Akram, Muhammad Ashraf, Fahim Arshad, Irfan Mustafa, Vincenzo Tufarelli, Mariano Fracchiolla and Eugenio Cazzato, Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, 2015
[UMD-Eth]
[1]Collomia grandiflora
[1]Turner, Nancy J., R. Bouchard and Dorothy I.D. Kennedy 1980 Ethnobotany of the Okanagan-Colville Indians of British Columbia and Washington. Victoria. British Columbia Provincial Museum (p. 111)
[2]Mahar, James Michael. 1953 Ethnobotany of the Oregon Paiutes of the Warm Springs Indian Reservation. Reed College, B.A. Thesis (p. 106)
[2]Collomia linearis
[1]Chamberlin, Ralph V. 1911 The Ethno-Botany of the Gosiute Indians of Utah. Memoirs of the American Anthropological Association 2(5):331-405. (p. 370)
Wilken1982 - Flavonoid and Anthocyanin Patterns and the Systematic Relationships in Collomia, DIETER H. WILKEN, DALE M. SMITH, JEFFREY B. HARBORNE§ and C. WILLIAM GLENNIE, Biochemical Systematics and Ecology,Vol. 10,No. 3, pp.239-243, 1982
