[Calicoflowers and Downingia of the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington]

Cascade Calicoflower, Cascade Downingia, Willamette Downingia

Downingia yina

Synonyms: Downingia willamettensis, Downingia yina var. major

Close-up frontal view of the flower of Cascade calicoflower as seen in a vernal pool on bluffs to the north of Horsethief Butte and Washington Highway 14........July 27, 2011.

Characteristics:

Cascade Downingia is also known by the following acronyms: Willamette Downingia and spreading Downingia. Yi-na is the Klamath word for Mountain.

Cascade Downingia is a fibrous-rooted annual with one or more diffusely branched stems, the branches more or less spreading. The stems range from 2-9 cm high and are few-flowered. The herbage is mostly glabrous. The leaves are lanceolate in shape with pointed tips and range from 5-8 cm long.

The calyx-lobes are linear in shape, ascending, and range from 2.5-4 mm long. The strongly two-lipped corolla is 7-10 mm long with a narrow tube. The corolla is bluish with a yellowish central throat which extends about halfway down the lower lip. The stamen column extends only to the mouth of the tube and has several short, straight bristles at its tip (See photos.).

Habitat:

Cascade Downingia is found on wet ground in marshes, wet meadows, and the edges of ponds.

Range:

Cascade Downingia may be found in western Washington and Oregon and east across southern Oregon to the Klamath region (Four-mile Lk and Lake-of -the-Woods) and the Steens Mt.

In the Columbia River Gorge it may be found at an elevation of 200' in vernal ponds near Horsethief Lake State Park.

Close-up frontal and sideview of the flower of Cascade calicoflower as seen in a vernal pool on bluffs to the north of Horsethief Butte and Washington Highway 14..........July 10, 2009.

Paul Slichter