Phacelia vallicola
Mariposa phacelia
Family: Hydrophyllaceae · Type: annual · Native
Mariposa phacelia is a California native annual found in eastern Klamath Ranges, northern and central Sierra Nevada Forests, and Sierra Nevada at elevations of 600 to 2,400 meters in open, gravelly to rocky soils within chaparral, oak and pine woodlands, and conifer forests. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces white to lavender flowers with purple lobes, forming bell-shaped blossoms 4 to 6 millimeters long. Growing 6 to 27 centimeters tall with erect stems that are simple to branched, it has a delicate, puberulent appearance with sparse stiff hairs. Its leaves range 10 to 35 millimeters long, with lower leaves opposite and blade shapes varying from lanceolate to ovate, featuring sunken veins and entire margins. The fruit is a small, short-hairy ovoid structure 4 to 6 millimeters long, containing 8 to 14 pitted seeds.
Habitat: Open, gravelly to rocky soils, chaparral, oak/pine woodland, conifer forest
Bloom period: Mar-Jun
Elevation: 600-2400 m
Bioregions: e KR, n&c SNF, SNH.
California counties: Tuolumne, Mariposa, Plumas, Sierra, Butte, Placer, Madera, Shasta, Nevada, Alameda, Fresno, Calaveras
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.