Phacelia eisenii

Eisen's phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Eisen's phacelia is a California native annual found in the Sierra Nevada in conifer forest and sandy or gravelly soils at elevations of 1,300 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from May to July, this delicate plant produces white to lavender bell-shaped flowers just 2 to 5 millimeters long. Growing with diminutive erect stems 2 to 10 centimeters tall that are glandular and short-hairy, it forms compact clusters in high-elevation mountain habitats. Its leaves are predominantly elliptic to oblanceolate, with the lowest leaves opposite and generally entire, measuring 10 to 25 millimeters in length. The small fruits are ovoid to spherical, 2 to 3 millimeters long and covered in short hairs.

Habitat: Sandy or gravelly soils, conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 1300-3400 m

Bioregions: SN.

California counties: Tulare, Fresno, Mariposa, Tuolumne, El Dorado, Inyo, Kern, Madera, Alameda, Mono

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