Toothed Calico Flower

Downingia cuspidata (Greene) Greene; Jepson, Fl. W. Middle Calif, ed. 2. 403. 1911.
Bolelia cuspidata Greene, Erythea 3: 101. 1895.
Downingia pulchella var. arcana Jepson, Madrofio 1: 100. 1922. {Jepson 667S. herb. Jepson!) Do-umingia immaculata Munz & Johnston, Bull. Torrey Club 51: 300. 1924. (Munz 5093, Pomona!) Downingia pallida Hoover, Leafl. W. Bot. 2; 1. 1937. (Hoover 1042, herb. Jepson!)
Plants few-25 (30) cm. high, entirely glabrous or the hypanthium sparsely scabrous, especially when young; leaves 0.2-2 mm. wide, 3-13 mm. long; inflorescence few-10 (17) cm. long, loosely 1-15(25-) flowered; flower-bracts linear to broadly elliptic or less often lanceolate, obtuse or subacute, 1-3 (4) mm. wide by 4-10 (13) mm. long, mostly about 3-5 times as long as wide; corolla 7-15 mm. long, glabrous, bright or pale blue or lavender, sometimes white, the tube pale below base of lower lip but sometimes darker at base, the lower lip with a central white area, this with a central or basal yellow spot or two more or less confluent spots, the two upper lobes often darker than the lower and with purplish veins; corollatube (2.3) 3.0-4.0 (5.2) mm. long, measured to dorsal sinus 3.0-4.5 (5.0) mm. long, almost cylindric but slightly expanded distally, the lateral sinuses usually slightly deeper than the dorsal one and cut very slightly (0.5 mm. or less) below the plane of the lower lip; two upper corolla-lobes ovate, acute, slightly divergent or recurved and overlapping in age, 1.0-2.5 mm. wide by (2.5) 3-6 (7) mm. long; lower lip plane or nearly so, with two low, inconspicuous yellow ridges at base, the lobes broadly ovate or oblong, mucronate, rounded to retuse or even obcordate; filament-tube (2.0) 2.5-4.0 (4.5) mm. long, glabrous, the filaments united their whole length or nearly so, the summit of the tube mostly exceeded by the base of the dorsal sinus of the corolla, the base of the anther-tube thus included; anther-tube 1.4—2.5 mm. long (the mean about 1.7 mm.), the anthers smooth or sparsely pubescent on the backs, all minutely white-tufted at tip, the three shorter prominently so and each bearing a short hornlike process as well; hypanthium linear, in fruit becoming fusiform, the mature capsule (0.6) 1.0-1.6 (2.0) mm. in diameter by (15) 20-40 (55) mm. in length, the lateral walls tough but the 4 or 5 valves easily separated and marked by conspicuous impressed lines or distinct hyaline slits, the lines or slits evident even in the young condition; calyx-lobes elliptic to oblanceolate, obtuse or rounded, ascending, subequal in length, about 1 mm. wide or less, (1.3) 3-8 (11) mm. in length; seeds lustrous, twisted, the very fine cellular markings running obliquely to the long axis of the seed.
Type locality: "Grain field west of Yountville, Napa Co., Calif. . . . also ... in Los Guilucos Valley, Sonoma Co." Los Guilucos Valley, BioleUi, June 10, 1893 (Gray!).
Distribution: California: Coast Ranges from Humboldt County to San Diego County, at elevations of 450 m. or less; Sierra Nevada foothills, from Calaveras County to Madera County; Egg Lake, Modoc Coimty.

Downingia cuspidata is a species of flowering plant in the bellflower family known by the common name toothed calicoflower. This showy wildflower is native to California, where it is a resident of ponds, meadows, and vernal pool ecosystems throughout the state. Its range may extend into Mexico.

This annual grows on a branching erect stem with small leaves at intervals. At the top of each stem branch is one or more flowers, each about a centimeter wide. The tubular flower has two long, narrow, pointed upper lobes which may be blue or purple to nearly white. The lower lip is fused into one three-lobed surface, which is blue, purple, or white with a large blotch or two smaller blotches of yellow in the center, outlined in white. Each lobe may have a toothlike point.