Ipomopsis congesta is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family, commonly called ballhead skyrocket. It is native to much of western North America, where it grows in many habitats from alpine peaks to low-elevation scrub. It is a perennial herb which varies in appearance, especially across subspecies and climates. It may take the form of a squat patch with stems under 10 centimeters in height or a more erect form up to 30 centimeters tall. The stems are often hairy to woolly. The thick leaves are usually fork-shaped with a number of clawlike lobes and 1 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers appear in a rounded, dense cluster atop the stem. Each flower is bell-shaped to funnel-shaped and white with a pale yellow throat and protruding yellow or white stamens. There are several subspecies, many of which were formerly considered species of Gilia.
Taxonomy The botanist William Jackson Hooker described a new species in the genus Gilia in 1837, which he gave the name Gilia congesta. In 1956 it was moved to the genus Ipomopsis by Verne Grant. It is classified in the Polemoniaceae family and according to Plants of the World Online has nine subspecies and two varieties.
Ipomopsis congesta subsp. congesta – Native to Washington to Colorado Ipomopsis congesta subsp. crebrifolia – Native to the Rocky Mountain states and Nevada Ipomopsis congesta subsp. frutescens – Native to Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah Ipomopsis congesta var. goodrichii – Native to Utah Ipomopsis congesta subsp. matthewii – Native to Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado Ipomopsis congesta subsp. montana – Native to Oregon, Nevada, and California Ipomopsis congesta subsp. nevadensis – Native to Nevada Ipomopsis congesta var. ochroleuca – Native to Utah Ipomopsis congesta subsp. palmifrons – Native to California, Nevada, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah Ipomopsis congesta subsp. pseudotypica – Native to Montana, South Dakota, and Wyoming Ipomopsis congesta subsp. viridis – Native to Nevada, Oregon, and Idaho
Ipomopsis congesta has 35 synonyms of the species or of eight of its subspecies, including species names.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Synonym of: Notes Gilia burleyana 1912 subsp. congesta = het. Gilia congesta 1837 I. congesta ≡ hom. Gilia crebrifolia 1848 subsp. crebrifolia ≡ hom. Gilia frutescens 1913 subsp. frutescens ≡ hom. Gilia iberidifolia 1851 subsp. congesta = het. Gilia merrillii 1902 subsp. congesta = het. Gilia montana 1906 subsp. montana ≡ hom., nom. illeg. homonym. post. Gilia nevadensis 1925 subsp. nevadensis ≡ hom. Gilia nuda 1913 subsp. congesta = het. Gilia palmifrons 1913 subsp. palmifrons ≡ hom. Gilia spergulifolia 1904 subsp. congesta = het. Ipomopsis crebrifolia 1979 subsp. crebrifolia ≡ hom. Ipomopsis frutescens 1956 subsp. frutescens ≡ hom. Navarretia congesta 1891 I. congesta ≡ hom. Navarretia iberidifolia 1891 subsp. congesta = het. Phacelia furcata 1837 subsp. congesta = het. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym
Names In Botanical Latin the species name of congesta means "crowded together", referring to the tightly packed flowers. Ipomopsis congesta is known by the common names ballhead skyrocket, ballhead ipomopsis, ball-head standing-cypress, and ballhead gilia.
Range Ballhead skyrockets are native to the western United States from as far east as the Dakotas to the Pacific states, a total of 14 states. In the northwest it grows in just Spokane County, Washington, but is common in the counties of southern Oregon and is also found in three counties in the north. To the east in Idaho the species is recorded in the majority of southern counties and in eight of Montana's counties. At the eastern edge of its range it is only native to the westernmost counties of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Nebraska. It has been found in all but three of the counties in Wyoming, but is much more scattered in Colorado and mostly found in the west of the state. In New Mexico and Arizona it is recorded in just two counties in each state, San Juan, Sandoval, Apache, and Navajo, respectively. It is common in both Utah and in Nevada, but is only found at the northeastern edge of California in and to the east of the high Sierra Nevadas and Klamath Mountains.
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Photo gallery: I. congesta Photo gallery: ssp. congesta Photo gallery: ssp. montana