The photo
at right shows a close-up of the narrow corolla tube of baby stars as seen at Memaloose in the Columbia River Gorge............April 24, 2006. Note the spreading, gland-tipped hairs on the corolla tube.
Baby Stars is a small, slender annual, not exceeding 15 cm in height. It is usually found as a single erect stem, but branching may occur at the base to form several stems. The leaves are 3 to 7 cleft, up to 2 cm long, with thin, linear segments. The leaf arrangement on the stems makes them look whorled.
The inflorescence is a dense terminal cluster of trumpet like flowers, with long thin tubes (to 3 cm in length) and short (2 to 4 mm long) flaring lobes. The throat is yellow, with the spreading lobes a deep pink or purple color.
Baby Stars are a low elevation plant of grassy areas.
Baby Stars are found primarily west of the Cascade Mts, from southern Vancouver Island south to southern California.
An eastward extension through the Cascades occurs in the Columbia River Gorge where they may be found between the elevations of 100'-2000' from west of Hood River, OR east to the mouth of the Klickitat River.
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