Appearance
The plant usually bears white flowers with yellow centers, hence the name "poached egg plant", but flower color can vary across subspecies. It is a popular ornamental plant. It attracts hoverflies and is pollinated by bees. It is self-seeding, even in a lawn.Naming
The plant was collected by the Scottish explorer and botanist David Douglas, who worked on the west coast of America in the 1820s.There are six subspecies:
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "douglasii" R. Br., is native to the coastal mountains and valleys of southwestern Oregon south to the San Francisco Bay Area
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "nivea" C.T. Mason, with mostly white flowers, grows in the coastal mountains of northern California
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "ornduffii", with 4 petals instead of 5, is endemic to California's San Mateo County
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "rosea" C.T. Mason, found in California's Central Valley and adjacent hills, often has pink veining on its petals
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "sulphurea" C.T. Mason, is a rare yellow-petaled subspecies endemic to the Bay Area
⤷ "L. douglasii" subsp. "striata" Morin, has recently been subsumed into this species; it occurs in the Klamath range and the north and central Sierra Nevada
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