Phacelia pachyphylla

Jepson 2012

Duration: Annual Nativity: Native Lifeform: Forb/Herb General: Herbaceous annuals, 4-17 cm tall, stems absent or with few branches, herbage dark-glandular-hairy, plants taprooted or arising from a thick caudex. Leaves: Alternate, blades round, thickish, 20-50 mm in diameter, margins entire to slightly crenate, blades generally shorter than the petioles and mostly basal. Flowers: Purple, corollas funnel- to bell-shaped, 5-7 mm long with 5 rounded lobes, deciduous, at least some persistent and withering in fruit in some species, calyxes with 5 lobes, these oblong and fused at the base, 2-3 mm long and enlarging to 3-4 mm long in fruit,with densely short-hairy and glandular surfaces, persistent, stamens 2-4 mm long, short-hairy, equal and exserted, ovary chambers 1-2, placentas parietal, enlarging and meeting in fruit, styles 2-lobed, 2-3 mm long, generally hairy, inflorescences usually dense and 1-sided, coiled, flowers borne in cymes generally surrounded by leaves and leafy bracts. Fruits: Capsules, brown, spheric, 5-7 mm in diameter, short-hairy, with some stalked glands. Seeds many, to 1 mm, with 6-8 abaxial cross-furrows. Ecology: Found on flats and alkaline soils, in creosote-bush scrub communities, to 4,500 ft (1372 m); flowering April-May. Distribution: California. Notes: This species can become somewhat large and has handsome purple flowers. So far, this species has been recognized as occurring only in California, and is not treated in older versions of Kearney and Peebles. 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 pachyphylla means thick-leaved.