Phacelia ciliata

Great valley phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Great valley phacelia is a California native annual herb found in southern North Coast Ranges, central Sierra Nevada Foothills, Tehama County, Sutter Buttes, San Joaquin Valley, northern Central Coast, San Francisco Bay Area, southern Coast Ranges, and southwestern California in clay or gravelly grassland slopes at elevations below 1,850 meters. Flowering from February to June, this plant produces pale blue flowers with blue lobes in delicate funnel-shaped corollas approximately 8 to 10 millimeters long. Growing with erect stems 10 to 55 centimeters tall that are generally simple or branched at the base and covered in short, glandular hairs. Its leaves are deeply lobed to compound, measuring 30 to 150 millimeters long, with oblong to ovate blades that have toothed or lobed segments. The fruit is approximately 4 to 5 millimeters long, nearly spherical, and covered in short hairs.

Habitat: Clay or gravelly slopes in grassland, fields

Bloom period: Feb-Jun

Elevation: < 1850 m

Bioregions: s NCoR, c&amps SNF, Teh, ScV (Sutter Buttes), SnJV, n CCo (Lake Merced, San Francisco Co.), SnFrB, SCoRI, SW (exc ChI)

California counties: Humboldt, Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Alameda, San Luis Obispo, San Joaquin, Santa Clara, San Benito, Stanislaus, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Colusa, Merced, Fresno, Monterey, San Diego, Yolo, Riverside, Orange, Tulare, Inyo, San Francisco, Solano, San Bernardino

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