Cascade Calicoflower

Downingia yina Appleg. Contr. Dudley Herb. 1: 97. 1929
Plants (3> 10-35 cm high, often diffusely branched from the base, entirely glabrous or the hypanthium scabrous; leaves 0.5-2 mm. wide, (3) 8-23 mm. long; inflorescence few-15 (25) cm. long, with fev,-35 flowers; flower-bracts narrowly elliptic or lanceolate to ovate, usually acute, (1) 2-7 mm. wide, 6-27 mm. long, 3-8 times as long as broad; the corolla 7-12 (16) mm. long, glabrous, lavender to deep bright blue, the lower lip with a central yellow area surrounded by white except at base, where the yellow is continued over two low ridges into the' tube, three purplish patches (which may be faint or entirely wanting), alternating with these ridges, which are parallel to the long ar.is of the tube, the tube about the same color as the limb, or lighter-colored on the ventral side, (3.2) 3.S-6.5 mm. long, measured to dorsal sinus +-6.5 mm. long, nearly cylindrical but slightly dilated distally, the lateral sinuses usually slil^htly deeper than the dorsal one and cut very slightly below the plane of the lower lip; two upper corolla-lobes acute, linear-lanceolate or lincar-oblanceolate, rarely broader, slightly divergent, erect or somewhat curled backward, 1-1.5 (2.2) mm. wide, (4) 5-7 mm. long; lower lip plane or slightly concave, the lobes oblong to obovate, rounded and mucronate; filaments connate their whole length or nearly so; base of anther-tube usually covered by dorsal side of corolla-tube, the anthers somewhat pubescent on the backs; ovary unilocular; placentae parietal; central septum none.
Tvp8 locality: Four Mile I^kc, Klaniath County, Oregon, AppUgate 4479 (Stanford U.I).
Valves of the capsule Kparatcd by hyaline lines cxlcndinic the length of the capmie, these vmljlc as impres.sed lines even before maturity; mature capnile terete, linear or fusiform, broadest about the middle; plant* 10 cm. hii(h or less, difTuscly branched from the base; range from northern Siskiyou Co., Calif., to Klamath Co., Ore. 1 la. D. Yina var. Yina. Valves of the capsule usually invisible before splitting, with no impressed lines nor hyaline divisions on hypanthium; mature capsule stibulate, broadest near base ; plants up to 35 cm. high, usually erect; range from Humboldt Co., Calif., north to Washington, mostly west of the Cascade Ranges, ll^i. D. Yina var. major.
Ua. Downingia Yina var. Yina McVaugh, var. nov.
Downingia Yina Appleg. loc. cit., as to type.
Corolla usually 8-10 mm. long, the tube 3.5-4.5 mm. loug; filament-tube 2.5-3.5 mm. long; anther-tube 1.6-2 mm. long, the short anthers white-tufted at tip and each with a short hornlike process as well; longer anthers scarcely tufted at tips; hypanthium in fruit becoming fusiform, terete, not conspicuously twisted, broadest about the middle, about 1.5 mm. in diameter, 20-25 mm. long; lateral walls thin and easily fractured, the three valves separated by thin hyaline divisions; calyx-lobes elliptic to subulate, acute, up to about 1 mm. wide by 6 mm. long; seeds not twisted, unlincd, dull or sUghtly lustrous.
Distribution: Cascade Ranges of southern Oregon and northern California.

Downingia yina is a distinctive, colorful wildflower known by the common name Cascade calico-flower. It bears small, easily recognizable flowers up to 1 centimeter in width. Each flower has three fused lower petals which are blue or violet with a central spot which is white with a yellow center. This pattern is attractive to pollinating insects and helps them navigate to the flower's center. The two upper blue petals may fold together to face each other, or stick straight out.

This flower grows in moist habitats including vernal pools, wet meadows, and edges of lakes. It can be found in the Pacific Northwest from Washington to northern California.