Phacelia pedicellata

Jepson 2012, Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougal 1973

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous, robust annuals, 12-50 cm tall, stems erect, few, openly branched above the base, herbage short-hirsute and glandular-pubescent throughout, very ill-smelling, plants taprooted or arising from a thick caudex. Leaves: Alternate, ovate to round, 20-120 mm in diameter, lower blades compound with 3-7 rounded or toothed leaflets, upper blades lobed to compound with 3 rounded segments, blades becoming reduced as one moves up the stems, petioles generally as long as the blades. Flowers: Light pink to blue or white, corollas bell-shaped with 5 rounded lobes, 5-7 mm long, generally deciduous, at least some persistent and withering in fruit in some species, calyx, 3-4.5 mm long, persistent and enlarging to 4-5.5 mm long in fruit, with narrowly oblanceolate lobes fused at the base, calyx with sparsely hairy, ciliate, glandular, surfaces, stamens equal, 6-8 mm long, glabrous, exserted, ovary chambers 1-2, placentas parietal, enlarging and meeting in fruit, styles 2-lobed, exserted, 6-8 mm long, generally hairy, inflorescences usually dense and 1-sided, coiled, flowers borne in densely grouped cymes on thread-like pedicles with densely long-hairy surfaces, these not glandular. Fruits: Capsules, spheric to ovoid, 3-3.5 mm long with pubescent surfaces. Seeds generally 4, to 3 mm long, abaxial (lower) surfaces pitted, adaxial (upper) surfaces with a central ridge separating 2 longitudinal grooves. Ecology: Found in dry, sandy or gravelly washes, slopes, and canyons, from 1,000-4,500 ft (305-1372 m); flowering March-May. Distribution: Arizona, California, Nevada. Notes: The infloresences of this species tend to be composed of many flowers on grouped scorpoid or straight cymes, the infloresences rising up above the surrounding leaves; the leaves are a somewhat lighter green than other species, generally lobed or toothed, and thickish, the surfaces covered with short, stiff, glandular hairs. Look for it in Yavapai, Mohave, Gila, Maricopa, Pinal, and Yuma counties in Arizona. Ethnobotany: Specific uses for this species are unknown, but other species in the genus have uses; leaves boiled or boiled, strained, refried and eaten as greens. Synonyms: None Editor: LCrumbacher2012 Etymology: Phacelia based on the Greek phakelos, meaning "cluster," and alluding to the densely crowded flower spikes of most species of the genus, and pedicellata comes from the Latin for "with a pedicel" because of the thread-like stalks of the flower.