Phacelia stebbinsii

Stebbins' phacelia

Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Stebbins' phacelia is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in northern Sierra Nevada in El Dorado County, occurring in gravelly soils, meadows, and conifer forest at elevations of 900 to 2,100 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to pale blue flowers in delicate bell-shaped clusters approximately 4 to 5 millimeters long. Growing 10 to 40 centimeters tall with erect stems that are lightly branched and puberulent, the plant has a distinctly aromatic quality. Its leaves vary from elliptic to lanceolate, with proximal leaves generally 7 to 50 millimeters long and larger leaves often having 2 to 6 teeth or lobes. The fruit is a small, compressed ovoid structure 3 to 4 millimeters long, densely covered in short hairs and typically containing a single pitted seed.

Habitat: Gravelly soils, meadows, conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: 900-2100 m

Bioregions: n SN (El Dorado Co.).

California counties: El Dorado, Placer, Yolo

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