Phacelia nashiana
Encyclopedia
Phacelia nashiana is a species of phacelia
known by the common name Charlotte's phacelia. It is endemic to California
, where it is known only from the area where the Sierra Nevada junctions with the Mojave Desert
. It grows in scrub and woodland and on granite
mountain slopes.
It is a mostly erect annual herb producing a small branching or unbranched stem up to about 18 centimeters tall. It is coated in short, stiff, and gland-tipped black hairs. The leaves, which are mostly arranged around the base of the stem, have shallowly lobed oval or rounded blades on petioles
a few centimeters long. The hairy, glandular inflorescence
is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers. Each flower is 1 to 2 centimeters long and brilliant deep blue in color with usually five small white spots above the white tubular throat. It has five protruding stamen
s tipped with white anthers.
Phacelia
Phacelia is a genus of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants, native to North and South America....
known by the common name Charlotte's phacelia. 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 known only from the area where the Sierra Nevada junctions with the Mojave Desert
Mojave Desert
The Mojave Desert occupies a significant portion of southeastern California and smaller parts of central California, southern Nevada, southwestern Utah and northwestern Arizona, in the United States...
. It grows in scrub and woodland and on granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
mountain slopes.
It is a mostly erect annual herb producing a small branching or unbranched stem up to about 18 centimeters tall. It is coated in short, stiff, and gland-tipped black hairs. The leaves, which are mostly arranged around the base of the stem, have shallowly lobed oval or rounded blades on petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
a few centimeters long. The hairy, glandular inflorescence
Inflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers. Each flower is 1 to 2 centimeters long and brilliant deep blue in color with usually five small white spots above the white tubular throat. It has five protruding stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s tipped with white anthers.