Gilia tweedyi was described and published in 1905 by Per Axel Rydberg, who named it in honor of Frank Tweedy, one of the earliest collectors.

Rydberg's type description is based on Tweedy's specimen #4422, deposited at the New York Botanical Garden's Steere Herbarium.

"[2] But the similarities would lead to taxonomic revision, with Gilia tweedy temporarily demoted to subspecific status.

Stems and leaves have distinctive cottony or cobwebby hairs, and are glandular, more so in the upper part of the plant.

[9] Gilia tweedyi is native to the northwestern US, from Oregon through central Idaho east to Montana, and south to northeast Nevada, Wyoming and northwest Colorado.