Thomas Nuttall, famed 19th century explorer, plant collector, and Harvard Professor of Botany, named the Collomia genus in 1818 from a specimen he collected in 1811 "near the banks of the Missouri, about the confluence of the Shian River, and in the vicinity of the Arikaree village".  (Nuttall as quoted in Intermountain Flora).  Nuttall named the new species Collomia linearis and he described it in his 1818 Genera of North American Plants.

   "Collomia", from the Greek "colla", "glue", refers to the sticky seeds. 

This delicate, tiny-flowered member of the Phlox family is rare in Colorado, not found in New Mexico, and common in western Utah and Arizona.  It is difficult to find because of its slender structure.  Its flowers are in a dense terminal grouping, range from white to peach to salmon, and have the long tubes typical of Phlox family members such as Scarlet Gilia.  The main stem is unbranched.

"Grandiflora" means, of course, "large flower"; perhaps this seemingly incongruous name for such a small flower was applied as a relative term, i.e., this flower is larger than the flower of Collomia linearis.

David Douglas, of Douglas Fir fame, first collected seeds from this plant "in the country bordering on the river Columbia" in 1828. (Douglas' words as quoted in Intermountain Flora.)

Foothills, montane. Woodlands, meadows, openings. Spring, summer.
Priest Gulch Trail, June 29, 2005.

This cute beauty grows four-to-twenty-four inches tall in small patches in openings and in Sagebrush, Oak brush, and Aspen woodlands.  Its flowers are trumpet-shaped, about a half inch long and a quarter inch wide.  Stems are reddish and leaves are alternate, somewhat longer at the top of the stem than at the bottom, and form a basket below the flowers.

This is the most widespread Collomia and is found in all Western states.  It is common in the mountains of the Four Corners area.

Foothills, montane. Woodlands, meadows, openings. Spring, summer.
Narraguinnep Natural Area, May 28, 2004.

Foothills, montane. Woodlands, meadows, openings. Spring, summer.
Meadows, Western San Juan National Forest, June 10, 2010.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Collomia grandiflora

Range map for Collomia linearis