Phacelia crenulata var. crenulata

Cleftleaf wildheliotrope

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Cleftleaf wildheliotrope is a California native annual found in southeastern Mojave Mountains, southern Eastern Sierra Nevada, and eastern Mojave Desert in sandy to gravelly washes and slopes at elevations below 2,450 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces purple flowers with distinctive corolla lobes about 4.5 to 7 millimeters long. Growing with slender stems that are consistently covered in stiff glandular hairs, it reaches heights typical of desert annuals. Its leaves are deeply crenulated, creating a distinctive textured appearance along the margins. The small ovoid fruits have corrugated seed margins, reflecting the plant's adaptation to harsh desert environments.

Habitat: Sandy to gravelly washes, slopes

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 2450 m

Bioregions: se MP, SNE, e DMoj

California counties: San Bernardino, Inyo, Imperial, Riverside, San Diego, Mono

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