Phacelia neglecta

Jepson 2012, Kearney and Peebles 1969, McDougal 1973

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous, low and compact annuals, to 20 cm tall, stems ascending to erect, 0-few-branched, herbage fleshy and finely glandular, the stems and leaves brittle, plants taprooted or arising from a thick caudex. Leaves: Alternate, blades round, thickish, 10-50 mm in diameter, margins wavy to crenate, sufaces covered with soft, glandular hairs, petioles as long as or longer than the blades, blades sometimes forming a basal rosette when young, becoming reduced as one moves up the stems. Flowers: White, corollas funnel- to bell-shaped with 5 rounded lobes, 4-6 mm long, deciduous, calyx 1.5-2 mm long and 2-3.5 mm wide in fruit, with 5 narrowly ovate lobes, surfaces densely short-hairy, glandular, fused at base, calyx persistent, 2-3 mm long and enlarging in fruit, stamens 2-4 mm, puberulent, exserted, ovary chambers 1 or sometimes appearing as 2 due to the intrusion of the 2 parietal placentas, enlarging and meeting in fruit, styles 2-lobed, 2-3 mm long, generally hairy, inflorescences generally dense and 1-sided, sometimes coiled, flowers borne in cymes or racemes on pedicels 1-8 mm long, these often obscured by the leaves. Fruits: Capsules, spheric, 3-4 mm in diameter, with puberulent surfaces. Seeds brown, many, to 1 mm in diameter,with 4-7 cross-furrows abaxially (beneath). Ecology: Found on dry, stony, clay or alkaline soils commonly of volcanic origin, on flats and slopes, up to 3,500 ft (1067 m); flowering March-May. Distribution: Arizona, California, Nevada; Mexico. Notes: The creamy flowers stand out against the felty dark green of the basal leaves, and the fleshy, brittle stems and leaves are good identifiers for this species. Look for it in Mohave, Yuma, Pima, La Paz, and Maricopa 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 is based on the Greek phakelos, meaning "cluster," and alluding to the densely crowded flower spikes of most species of the genus, and neglecta means neglected or overlooked.