Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses - White flower ipomopsis

WHITE FLOWER IPOMOPSIS

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Ipomopsis longiflora (Torr. ) V. Grant subsp. longiflora

[=Gilia longiflora (Torr. ) G. Don]

Barber County, Kansas

Annual to biennial

Height: 8-24 inches

Family: Polemoniaceae - Polemonium Family

Flowering Period: May, June, July, August, September

Also Called:

White-flowered gilia.

Stems:

Simple and erect to more often spreading-branched from near base; nearly smooth to sparsely glandular-hairy.

Leaves:

Alternate, short-stalked to sessile, .5 to 2.4 inches long, glabrous; lower leaves pinnately divided into 3-7 linear or thread-like segments .4 to 1.2 inch long; upper leaves undivided and thread-like.

Inflorescences:

Solitary, paired, or loose cymes of flowers; upper portion of plant appearing panicle-like, few- to many-flowered; flowers near branch ends.

Flowers:

Stalked; calyx 5-lobed, tube 1/8 to 1/5 inch long; corolla trumpet-shaped, white to pale blue; tube 1 to 1.75 inch long; lobes 5, 1/4 to 1/2 inch long; stamens 5, unequal, included or at most only two exserted.

Fruits:

Capsule, ovoid to oblong, 1/3 to 1/2 inch long; seeds many, small, angular.

Habitat:

Dry stream beds and sand hills; sandy soils.

Distribution:

West 1/2 of Kansas.

Uses:

Native Americans used ipomopsis to treat a variety of ailments. The leaves were boiled with the resulting liquid taken for stomachaches; crushed leaves and flowers were steeped into a tea that was taken for headaches, used on sores, and served as a hair tonic to prevent baldness and lengthen the hair; and the plant was chewed together with salt to treat heartburn. An infusion of the flowers was mixed with feed and given to sheep with stomach disorders.

Comments:

White flower ipomopsis is said to grow easily from seeds and does well in dry conditions.

White flower ipomopsis flower