Washoe Phacelia
Phacelia curvipes
Color: Deep purple to blue
Common name: Washoe phacelia
Latin name: Phacelia curvipes
Family: BORAGINACEAE
Height: 1.5-6 inches
Description: It is an annual herb producing a small, branching stem up to about 15 centimeters long. It is glandular and hairy in texture. The hairy inflorescence is a showy curving cluster of bell-shaped flowers each under a centimeter long. The flowers are deep purple to blue with white throats.
Leaf: The leaves are oval or lance-shaped, 1 to 4 centimeters long, and borne on stalks attaching the leaf blade to the stem.
Range: Mojave Desert, s Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi Mountain Area, Transverse Ranges, East of Sierra Nevada
Habitat: Sandy to rocky slopes, chaparral, oak/pine woodland, coniferous forest
Elevation: 500–2700 m.
Flowering time: Apr–Jun
Notes: Phacelia curvipes, a dicot, is an annual herb that is native to California. Distribution outside California: to sw Utah, nw Arizona. Like all Phacelia, this plant can cause poison ivy-like dermatitis. This photo was taken on May 15, 2004 in the San Bernardino Mountains, California.
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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