Plant Name
Scientific Name: Phacelia campanularia
Common Names: Desertbells, Desert Bell, Desert Bluebells, California Bluebell
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native, Introduced. This showy wildflower is often included in desert wildflower seed mixes, and the plants found here may be naturalized escapees from cultivation.
Habitat: Desert. It is most common along roadsides and in sandy desert washes.
Flower Color: Dark to medium cobalt blue
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: Up to 2 feet (61 cm) tall, but usually much less
Description: The flowers are bell-shaped, 1 inch (2.5 cm) wide, and have 5 broad lobes. The leaves are dark green, fuzzy, heart-shaped, coarsely toothed, and edged in dark red. The stems are reddish and hairy.
Special Characteristics
Allergenic – The foliage can cause contact dermatitis in sensitive persons, but luckily there is little reason to handle this plant since it is not transplantable and does not make a good cut flower.
Classification
Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Solanales
Family: Hydrophyllaceae – Waterleaf family
Genus: Phacelia Juss. – phacelia
Species: Phacelia campanularia A. Gray – desertbells
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