Collinsia

Collinsia
Purple Chinese houses (Collinsia heterophylla)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Embryophytes
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Spermatophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Plantaginaceae
Genus:	Collinsia Nutt.
Species
About 20, see text

Collinsia is a genus of about 20 species of annual flowering plants, consisting of the blue eyed Marys¹ and the Chinese houses. It was traditionally placed in the snapdragon family Scrophulariaceae, but following recent research in molecular genetics, it has now been placed in a much enlarged family Plantaginaceae.

The genus is endemic to North America, and is named in honor of Zacchaeus Collins, a Philadelphia botanist of the late eighteenth/early nineteenth century. Many of the 20 species may be found in California.

Two species, Collinsia parviflora (smallflower blue eyed Mary) and Collinsia violacea (violet blue eyed Mary), had medicinal uses among American Indian peoples.

Species include: