Plant Name
Scientific Name: Phacelia distans
Synonym: Phacelia cinerea
Common Names: Distant Phacelia, Wild Heliotrope, Blue Phacelia, Distant Scorpion-weed
Plant Characteristics
Duration: Annual, Perennial
Growth Habit: Herb/Forb
Arizona Native Status: Native
Habitat: Desert
Flower Color: Violet-blue to purple, Whitish
Flowering Season: Spring
Height: Up to 18 inches (46 cm) tall
Description: The flowers are atop dense, hairy, terminal, coiled cymes. The individual flowers are tubular, 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) wide, and have 5 broad, rounded lobes. The leaves are green, alternate, hairy, and variably once or twice pinnately divided, which gives them a fern-like appearance. The stems are reddish and hairy.
The similar Cleftleaf Wildheliotrope (Phacelia crenulata) has scalloped, undivided leaves.
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 distans Benth. – distant phacelia
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