Phacelia cicutaria

Caterpillar phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Caterpillar phacelia is a California native annual herb found in various California bioregions, thriving in diverse habitats at elevations across the state. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces small lavender to white flowers in dense clusters with distinctive long-haired inflorescences. Growing 18 to 60 centimeters tall with ascending to erect stems that are stiff and glandular-hairy, it develops a robust and somewhat branching habit. Its leaves are deeply lobed or compound, typically 20 to 150 millimeters long, with ovate to oblong blades that have toothed segments. The fruit develops small spherical seed capsules covered in stiff, bulb-based hairs over one millimeter long, each containing two to four pitted seeds.

California counties: Tulare, Kern, Inyo, Mariposa, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Solano, Riverside, Sutter, Madera, El Dorado, Sacramento, Amador, Calaveras, Merced, Fresno, Butte, Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Lake, San Luis Obispo, Tuolumne

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