Nemophila pulchella
Encyclopedia
Nemophila pulchella, known by the common name Eastwood's baby blue-eyes, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family
. It is endemic to California
, where it is found from the San Francisco Bay Area
to the southern Sierra Nevada to the Transverse Ranges
. It grows in many types of mountain, foothill, and valley habitat
s.
up to 3 centimeters in length. The flower has a calyx of hairy, pointed sepal
s. The bowl-shaped flower corolla is white or blue, the largest just over a centimeter wide.
There are three varieties.
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borage or Forget-me-not family, include a variety of shrubs, trees, and herbs, totaling about 2,000 species in 146 genera found worldwide.A number of familiar plants belong to this family....
. It is endemic to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it is found from the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
to the southern Sierra Nevada to the Transverse Ranges
Transverse Ranges
The Transverse Ranges are a group of mountain ranges of southern California, in the Pacific Coast Ranges physiographic region that runs along the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico in North America. The Transverse Ranges begin at the southern end of the California Coast Ranges and lie between...
. It grows in many types of mountain, foothill, and valley habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s.
Description
Nemophila pulchella is an annual herb with a fleshy and delicate stem. The leaves are up to 5 centimeters long and generally divided into five wide, rounded lobes. Flowers are solitary, each on a pedicelPedicel (botany)
A pedicel is a stem that attaches single flowers to the main stem of the inflorescence. It is the branches or stalks that hold each flower in an inflorescence that contains more than one flower....
up to 3 centimeters in length. The flower has a calyx of hairy, pointed sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s. The bowl-shaped flower corolla is white or blue, the largest just over a centimeter wide.
There are three varieties.
- Frémont's baby blue-eyes, var. fremontii, has white flowers, as does
- var. gracilis, which is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills
- var. pulchella has blue flowers with white centers.