Phacelia anelsonii

Aven nelson's phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.3

Aven nelson's phacelia is a rare California native annual found in the eastern Desert Mountains, specifically the New York Mountains, in creosote-bush scrub and woodland at elevations of 1,200 to 1,500 meters. Flowering from late March to May, this plant produces delicate white, pale blue, or lavender flowers in widely bell-shaped corollas 5 to 7 millimeters long. Growing 10 to 50 centimeters tall with erect stems that are short and stiff-glandular-hairy, it develops distinctive glandular stems with dark-colored glands. Its leaves are varied, with proximal leaves 15 to 80 millimeters long, deeply lobed and oblong to oblanceolate, while distal leaves are more ovate and toothed. The fruit is a small ovoid structure 2 to 3.5 millimeters long, bearing 2 to 4 seeds with intricately textured surfaces.

Habitat: Sandy or gravelly soils, creosote-bush scrub, woodland

Bloom period: Late Mar-May

Elevation: 1200-1500 m

Bioregions: e DMtns (New York Mtns)

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.