Phacelia platyloba

Broad lobed phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Broad lobed phacelia is a California native annual found in the central Sierra Nevada Foothills in gravelly or rocky soils of chaparral and woodland habitats at elevations of 300 to 1,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces widely bell-shaped flowers 4 to 5 millimeters long in soft blue to lavender colors. Growing with erect stems 9 to 45 centimeters tall that are simple or branched at the base and covered in fine puberulent hairs, it has a delicate upright structure. Its leaves are 15 to 90 millimeters long, with elliptic to ovate blades that are 1 to 2 times compound, featuring leaflets that are distinctively lobed or toothed. The fruit is small, about 2 to 3 millimeters long, and densely covered in fine hairs.

Habitat: Gravelly or rocky soils, chaparral, woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 300-1200 m

Bioregions: c&amps SNF.

California counties: Fresno, Mariposa, Madera, Alameda, Los Angeles, San Diego, Riverside, Kern

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