# Sticky Chinese Houses (*collinsia tinctoria*)

Sticky Chinese Houses are colorful flowers that stick to your fingers! They love to grow in sunny spots and can bring a splash of color to any garden.

- **Category:** [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/categories/plant)
- **Rarity:** Common
- **Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger
- **Snaps:** 1
- **Habitat:** They thrive in sunny meadows, grasslands, and along roadsides.
- **Also known as:** Chinese Houses, Collinsia, Sticky Flowers

![Sticky Chinese Houses](https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Redirect/file/Collinsia_tinctoria_%28Flickr_48071517311%29.jpg&width=800)

Photo: Joe Decruyenaere, CC BY-SA 2.0 · [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Collinsia_tinctoria_%28Flickr_48071517311%29.jpg)

## Appearance

The Sticky Chinese Houses plant has distinctive tiered whorls of bicolored flowers, often blue, purple, or white with contrasting yellow or white markings, resembling miniature pagodas. Its stems and leaves are covered in sticky, glandular hairs, making it feel unusual to the touch.

## Taxonomy

- **Kingdom:** Plantae
- **Phylum:** Tracheophyta
- **Class:** Magnoliopsida
- **Order:** Lamiales
- **Family:** Plantaginaceae
- **Genus:** Collinsia

## Interesting facts

- Its sticky stems can even trap small insects!
- Sometimes, the flowers change color subtly after they have been pollinated!
- The plant's tiered flowers resemble tiny Chinese pagodas, inspiring its common name.
- This wildflower is only found growing naturally in parts of California and Oregon, USA.

## Special abilities

- **Sticky Shield:** Sticky Chinese Houses has glandular hairs on its stems that act like a 'sticky shield,' helping it defend against tiny crawling pests.
- **Pagoda Power:** Its flowers grow in tiered levels, like tiny pagodas. This unique shape helps attract and provide landing spots for many different pollinators.
- **Fast Bloomer:** As an annual, Sticky Chinese Houses grows quickly from seed, allowing it to bloom and produce new seeds all in one season.

## Measurements & details

- **Height:** 15-60 cm
- **Spread:** 15-30 cm
- **Flower Size:** 1-2.5 cm
- **Bloom Season:** Late spring to early summer
- **Edible:** No
- **Toxicity:** None
- **Lifecycle:** Annual
- **Pollination Method:** Insect

## Ecological connections

- **Pollinates:** Honey bee (*Apis mellifera*) — collects nectar and pollen
- **Pollinates:** Yellow-faced bumblebee (*Bombus vosnesenskii*) — visits flowers for nectar
- **Pollinates:** Painted Lady butterfly (*Vanessa cardui*) — sips nectar from blossoms

## Traits

- [Colorful](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/colorful): Colorful describes organisms or objects displaying a wide range of bright and distinct colors.
- [Grassland](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/grassland): Grassland habitats are terrestrial biomes dominated by grasses and herbaceous plants, supporting a variety of grazing animals.
- [Herbivorous](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/herbivorous): This trait characterizes organisms whose diet consists entirely or primarily of plant material.
- [Forest](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/forest): Forest habitats are terrestrial environments dominated by dense tree cover, supporting a high diversity of plant and animal life.
- [Pollinator](https://www.snappit.app/explore/traits/pollinator): Describes organisms that transfer pollen, enabling the fertilization and reproduction of plants.

## Collections

- [Plants](https://www.snappit.app/explore/collections/plants)

## Safety

**Danger:** 0/5 · No known danger

No special safety notes yet.

## Frequently Asked Questions

### How to identify Sticky Chinese Houses?

Start with the whole plant, then compare leaf arrangement, leaf edges, stems and any flowers or fruit. Opposite leaves grow in pairs; alternate leaves come one at a time along the stem. These details tell you far more together than a single green leaf does. Plant Identifier: upload a photo and compare the visible details.

### How tall is Sticky Chinese Houses?

15-60 cm

### How wide does Sticky Chinese Houses spread?

15-30 cm

### How big are the flowers on Sticky Chinese Houses?

1-2.5 cm

### When does Sticky Chinese Houses bloom?

Late spring to early summer

### Is Sticky Chinese Houses edible?

No

### Is Sticky Chinese Houses toxic?

None

### What is Sticky Chinese Houses's lifecycle?

Annual

## Where to spot

- [Bagby Stationhouse, Water Tanks and Turntable](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/bagby-stationhouse-water-tanks-and-turntable) — California, US · Historic District
- [Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park](https://www.snappit.app/guides/places/malakoff-diggins-state-historic-park) — California, US · State Park

## More Plants

- [white snakeroot](https://www.snappit.app/explore/white-snakeroot) (*Ageratina altissima*)
- [tree-of-heaven](https://www.snappit.app/explore/tree-of-heaven) (*Ailanthus altissima*)
- [western sword fern](https://www.snappit.app/explore/western-sword-fern) (*Polystichum munitum*)
- [common milkweed](https://www.snappit.app/explore/common-milkweed) (*Asclepias syriaca*)

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Source: [Sticky Chinese Houses: Facts & Places to See — Snappit](https://www.snappit.app/explore/sticky-chinese-houses)