Aliciella latifolia (formerly Gilia latifolia),[1] also known as broad-leaved gilia, is a foul smelling annual plant in the Phlox family (Polemoniaceae) found in deserts of the southwestern United States.[2][3]: 114
It grows in the eastern and northern Mojave Desert and Colorado Desert.[2] It is common in desert dry washes and on rocky hillsides below 2,000', and in creosote bush scrub, especially where there is desert varnish.[2]
It is an annual growing from 4" to 12" tall.[2]
Leaves are simple, leathery, and ovate to round, with toothed margins sometimes tinged with pink to red.[2] Leaves are unusual with broad holly-like leaves, compared to its relatives which have pinnately divided leaves.[3]: 114
Flowers have five sepals, five petals fused into a narrow, funnel-shaped, corolla tube. Its five stamens alternate with the lobes of the corolla. Flowers occur in a cluster at the end of the stems.[2] The outside of the corolla is pale pink to tan, and the inside is pink to bright red, with stamens of unequal length that barely protrude past the corolla.[2]
Fruits are capsules with 3-compartments, each having many reddish-brown seeds.[2]
Aliciella latifolia (formerly Gilia latifolia), also known as broad-leaved gilia, is a foul smelling annual plant in the Phlox family (Polemoniaceae) found in deserts of the southwestern United States.: 114
