Foothills to subalpine.  Openings. Summer.
Below American Basin, July 26, 2007.

This lovely splash of color likes to grow on gravelly, rocky areas with little competition from other plants.  In these photographs it is growing on a pile of old mine debris and on a gravel bar at the side of a small creek.  Plants typically grow 8-12 inches tall (the one at left is ten inches) but may be as much as two feet tall.  

The plant was first collected by Thomas Nuttall along the Lewis River (in the 1830s?) and Nuttall named the plant in 1870.  Mark Porter renamed it Aliciella pinnatifida in 1998 for famed Colorado and California botanist, Alice Eastwood.  (More biographical information.)

Foothills to subalpine.  Openings. Summer.
Below American Basin, July 26, 2007.

The numerous glandular hairs (that appear as dots covering the calyx tube below the flower) give rise to one common name, "Sticky Gilia".

Foothills to subalpine.  Openings. Summer.
Below American Basin, July 26, 2007.

Foothills to subalpine.  Openings. Summer.
Below American Basin, July 26, 2007.