Leptosiphon bicolor
Synonym: Linanthus bicolor
Family: Polemoniaceae
English Common Name: true babystar
English Family Name: Pholx family
Taxonomy
- Kingdom: Plantae
- Phylum: Magnoliophyta
- Class: Magnoliopsida
- Order: Ericales/ Solanales
- Family: Polemoniaceae
- Genus: Leptosiphon
- Species: bicolor
Description
General: Slender annual up to 1.5 dm. tall, the stem puberulent, often branched at the base, otherwise usually simple. Leaves: Leaves rather firm, palmately 3-7 cleft, up to 2 cm. long, the segments linear, harshly ciliate. Flowers: Flowers fragrant, sub-sessile in a dense, terminal, leafy cluster, the inflorescence leaves longer and more prominently ciliate than the lower; calyx firm, 5-10 mm. long, the 5 segments with needle-like tips; corolla with a very slender tube up to 3 cm. long, the throat yellow, the 5 abruptly-flaring, short lobes deep pink to purplish or white; stamens 5, the filaments attached in the corolla throat; style 3-parted; ovary superior. Fruit: Capsule with 3, several-seeded carpels.
Bloom Period
April- June
Distribution
West of the Cascades, Vancouver Island, B. C., to California, east through the Columbia Gorge
Habitat
Mesic to dry, open, grassy places in the lowland zone; locally frequent on S Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands; S to CA.
Uses
None found (at the moment)
Propagation/ Seed Propagation
Seeds were sown into cone-tainers filled with Sunshine # 1 (a soil-less, peat-based media) amended with micro-nutrients (Micromax) and a slow-release fertilizer (Osmocote 14-14-14). Flats of conetainers were placed in greenhouse set at moderate temperatures (70 degree days/50 degree nights.) Seeds germinated readily with no treatment. Most seeds germinated within one to two weeks. (Leptosiphon grandiflorus also needed no treatment before germination).
Seed
Abbreviation: LEBI
Seed sample from: 2011
Average Measurement: 1.3 x 0.8 x 0.7
Measurement Range: L: 1.1 – 1.75, W: 0.6 – 1, D: 0.5 – 1
Features
Shape: Seeds somewhat tear shaped, others elliptical.
Color: Seeds partially translucent and brown. Hilium inconspicuous.
Surface: Seeds bumpy and somewhat corrugated, giving them a “brain-like” texture. Seeds slightly glossy.
Latitudinal Cross Section: elliptical 
Longitudinal cross section: elliptical 
, and at times, obovate 
