Phacelia austromontana
Southern sierra phacelia
Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native
Southern sierra phacelia is a California native annual found in central Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, San Jacinto Mountains, White and Inyo Mountains, and Desert Mountains in open, sandy to rocky areas at elevations of 1,500 to 3,000 meters. Flowering from May to June, this plant produces pale blue to lavender flowers in delicate bell-shaped clusters approximately 3 to 6 millimeters long. Growing with decumbent to ascending stems 5 to 27 centimeters tall, the plant is many-branched and lightly covered with puberulent and stiff hairs. Its leaves are 10 to 30 millimeters long, narrowly elliptic to lanceolate, and range from entire to slightly lobed. The fruit is a small ovoid structure 3 to 3.5 millimeters long, containing 2 to 4 pitted seeds.
Habitat: Open, sandy to rocky areas
Bloom period: May-Jun
Elevation: 1500-3000 m
Bioregions: c&s SN, TR, SnJt, W&I, DMtns
California counties: San Bernardino, Kern, Los Angeles, Ventura, Tulare, Inyo, Fresno, Mono
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.