Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Collinsia tinctoria is a species of flowering plant in the plantain family known by the common names sticky Chinese houses and tincture plant. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the woodlands and forests of the mountain ranges of the central and northern regions of the state. It is an annual herb producing a sturdy erect stem up to about 60 centimeters tall. The oppositely arranged leaves are triangular lance-shaped, sometimes toothed, and hairy on the undersides. The flower cluster is a series of widely spaced dense whorls of flowers, each whorl a crowded ring of flowers held on erect pedicels. The flower has five elongated sepals with rounded tips, the corolla angling sharply down from the mouth of the calyx. The corolla may be any of several colors from white to yellow to deep lavender and may be mottled or speckled and tinted in the throat. The flower cluster and some flower parts are hairy and hairy.

Plant type

Annual herb

Size

8 - 24 in Tall

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Color

Cream, Red, Pink, White

Sun

Deep Shade, Partial Shade

Water

Very Low

Ease of care

Moderate

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 7*, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Rocky places

Plant communities

Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Red Fir Forest, Yellow Pine Forest

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

1 confirmed and 2 likely

Confirmed Likely

Edith's Checkerspot

Euphydryas editha

Variable Checkerspot

Euphydryas chalcedona

Bilobed Looper Moth

Megalographa biloba