Charlotte's Phacelia
Phacelia nashiana
Color: Blue
Common name: Charlotte's phacelia
Latin name: Phacelia nashiana
Family: BORAGINACEAE
Height: 1.5–7 inches
Description: Phacelia nashiana is a mostly erect annual herb producing a small branching or unbranched stem up to about 18 centimeters tall. It is coated in short, stiff, and gland-tipped black hairs. The hairy, glandular inflorescence is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers. Each flower is 1-2 cm long and brilliant deep blue in color with usually five small white spots above the white tubular throat. It has five protruding stamens tipped with white anthers.
Leaf: The leaves, which are mostly arranged around the base of the stem, have shallowly lobed oval or rounded blades on stalks a few centimeters long.
Range: s High Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountain Area (e slope), w edge Mojave Desert
Habitat: Sandy to rocky, granitic slopes, generally in Joshua-tree or pinyon/juniper woodland
Elevation: < 2200 m.
Flowering time: Apr–May
Notes: Charlotte's phacelia is known only from the area where the Sierra Nevada junctions with the Mojave Desert. This photo was taken on April 2, 2005 in Short Canyon, Kern Canyon, California. Phacelia nashiana is a dicot that is native to California and is endemic (limited) to California alone. It is included in the CNPS Inventory of Rare and Endangered Plants on list 1B.2 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA).
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
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What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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