Kansas Wildflowers and Grasses

HAIRY PHACELIA

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Phacelia hirsuta Nutt.

Wildcat Glades, Newton County, Missouri

Annual

Height: 2-12 inches

Family: Hydrophyllaceae - Borage Family

Flowering Period: April, May, June

Stems:

Erect, simple to branched, densely stiff-hairy.

Leaves:

Appressed stiff-hairy; basal leaves oblong, short-stalked, .8 to 2+ inches long, pinnately-divided; segments 5-9, oval to nearly circular, entire to toothed; stem leaves deeply lobed to pinnately-cleft, oblong to circular, clasping to sessile; segments 5-9, linear to oval.

Inflorescences:

Cyme, simple, dense, terminal, initially rolled under but soon uncurling; stalks 1/8 to 3/5 inch long.

Flowers:

Calyx 5-lobed, divided nearly to base; lobes lanceolate-oblong, 1/5 to 2/5 inch long, unequal, stiff-hairy; corolla bell-shaped, 5-lobed, 1/5 to 1/3 inch long, bluish-lavender, throat paler; lobes rounded, entire; stamens 5, equal in length, not extending beyond lobes.

Fruits:

Capsule, rough; seeds 6-8, brown.

Habitat:

Open sites, woodland edges, low bottom ground, and along ledges and ravines; sandy soil.

Distribution:

Southeast fifth of Kansas.

Origin:

Phacelia is an exclusively New World genus with more than 100 species. Most are native to Western North America.

Comments:

From Greek phallelos "bundle" or "fascicle" in reference to the flower clusters and Latin hirsutus "rough with hairs" or "bristly". The California bluebell is Phacelia whitlavia.

Hairy phacelia inflorescence