Palouse Prairie Foundation native plant database

Variety: Two varieties are commonly recognized, var. intertexta with long corollas (7-10 mm) exceeding the calyx and long filaments (1.5-3.5 mm), and var. propinqua with shorter corollas (4-7 mm) and shorter filaments (0.5-2 mm long). They are sometimes treated at the subspecies level.

Common Name: needleleaf navarretia

Species Code: NAIN2, NAINI, NAINP3

Origin: Native to meadows and other open moist places, especially drying vernal pools, over much of western North America from southern British Columbia to Baja California east to the Dakotas and New Mexico.

Form: forb, annual from a taproot; stems simple to freely branched, erect or decumbent, 5 to 25 cm tall, puberulent at least on the stem, villous in the inflorescence.

Mature height: 2-10 inches

Duration: annual

Longevity: annual

Habitat Type: meadows and wetlands, especially vernal pools or vernally moist areas.

Wetland Indicator Status: FAC

Leaves: 1-3 cm long, glabrous or white-hairy at the base, pinnatifid or bipinnatifid, the segments needle-like with a long terminal segment, the lower leaves sometimes entire.

Flowers: inflorescence terminal, dense with leafy bracts; calyx 4-7 mm long, tufted-hairy inside the mouth, lobes unequal, larger ones sometimes trifid; corolla white to lavender or pale blue, 4-11 mm long, tubular with 5 ovoid lobes, stamens exserted.

Flower color: white, pink, blue/purple

Bloom: June, July

Bloom starts on:

Fruit: capsule, indehiscent or tardily dehiscent; seeds 1-1.3 mm, brown, pitted, mucilaginous when wet.

Vegetation type:

Characteristics:
Reproduces sexually by seed.
Gilia propinqua in St. John 1963.
Taprooted
Plant is an annual.
Flowers are perfect.
Fruit is a capsule.

Sun requirement: full sun

Soil moisture: wet to moist, at least vernally

Hazards: may be weedy in certain situations

Sowing time: fall

Transplant time: not recommended

Stratification: cold moist

Seed yield: information not available

Seed harvest: difficult

Seed first harvest: annual

Seed cleaning: information not available

Planting duration: annual

Seed insect problem:

Seed shatter: low

Seed size: small

Seed harvest date: information not available

Herbaria: Specimen data and digital resources from The Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

Keywords: native annual wetland or upland forb

Alternate Genus: Gilia

Alternate Species: propinqua

Alternate Variety:

Propagation:
1 protocol in the Native Plant Network
Corvallis Oregon Plant Materials Center

Other Propagation Information:
Because the plants are taprooted annuals and the seeds need stratification, it is probably best to sow in place during late autumn.
Reproduces sexually by seed.

Notes: Especially common in vernal pools and vernally moist areas.

References:
Hitchcock, C. Leo, Arthur Cronquist, Marion Ownbey, and J.W. Thompson. 1969. Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest. University of Washington Press. Seattle, WA. 5 vol.

St. John, Harold. 1963. Flora of Southeastern Washington and of Adjacent Idaho. 3rd edition. Outdoor Pictures. Escondido, CA.

Links:

Plant Profile from the USDA PLANTS Database
Species information from the University of Washington Herbarium

Palouse Prairie Foundation plant database (under development)
Genus species: Common name: Match: Full Partial