Coral Cheat Gily-Flower
Aliciella subnuda
Family: Polemoniaceae
Perennial plant from tuberous roots, growing to about a foot and a half high and a foot wide. Winter deciduous. Very rare in the trade.
Grow in full to part sun, moderate water with very good drainage, hardy to -20°F.
Brilliant red summer flowers attract hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators.
The genus, Aliciella, is a tribute to Alice Eastwood who was a Canadian American botanist who is credited with building the botanical collection at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. The species, subnuda, means "almost bare" perhaps referring to the plant’s stems which are slightly fuzzy.
Found in the Colorado Plateau and Canyonlands region of the southwestern United States in sandy soils, sandstone outcrops, from 5000-7800 ft.
Plants grow from small basal leaves at the base, photo by Zachary Nielsen on iNaturalist
Plants are most often found in very sandy soils, photo by Zach Coury, iNaturalist