Alternate name: Scarlet Gilia, Scarlet Skyrocket, Skunk Flower

Family: Polemoniaceae, Phlox view all from this family

Description In upper leaf axils and at tops of sparsely-leaved stems are clusters of showy, bright red or deep pink, trumpet-shaped flowers.
Flowers: corollas 3/4-1 1/4" (2-3.1 cm) long, with 5 pointed lobes.
Leaves: mostly 1-2" (2.5-5 cm) long, densest near base, pinnately divided into narrow segments.
Height: 6-84" (15-210 cm).

Flower May-September.

Habitat Dry slopes from sagebrush to forest.

Range Eastern Oregon to southern California; east to western Texas; north through the Rocky Mountains and the western edge of the plains to western North Dakota; also northern Mexico.

Discussion Skyrocket, one of the most common western wildflowers, grows readily from seed; its brilliant red trumpets are handsome in the native garden. Its beauty compensates for the faint skunky smell of its glandular foliage, responsible for the less complimentary name Skunk Flower. Ipomopsis was once considered part of Gilia, explaining the name Scarlet Gilia.