Phacelia orogenes

Mountain phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Mountain phacelia is a native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada (Mineral King, Tulare County) on gravelly slopes, meadow edges, and conifer forest at elevations of 2,060 to 3,400 meters. Flowering from July to August, this diminutive plant produces violet-lobed flowers with white to yellow tubes in small clusters 4 to 6 millimeters wide. Growing with erect stems 2 to 10 centimeters tall that are puberulent and sparsely glandular, it appears delicate and compact. Its linear to narrowly lanceolate leaves measure 5 to 30 millimeters long, with proximal leaves arranged opposite and tapering smoothly to narrow petioles. The small fruit contains 3 to 8 pitted seeds, each 1.5 to 2 millimeters long.

Habitat: Gravelly slopes, meadow edges, conifer forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: 2060-3400 m

Bioregions: s SNH (Mineral King, Tulare Co.).

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