Pholistoma auritum
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| Pholistoma auritum | ||||||||||||||
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| Pholistoma auritum Lindl. |
The small flowering herb Pholistoma auritum, which has the common name fiesta flower, is similar in appearance and habitat preference to another familiar plant in the waterleaf family, the baby-blue-eyes (Nemophila menziesii). Fiesta flower is native to the southwestern United States where it grows in woodlands and canyons.
Fiesta flower is a short green shrub with sparse dandelion-shaped leaves. Its foliage is covered in gripping hairs that help it stick to other plants and rough surfaces to support itself, climb, and hang. It bears delicate white-centered violet flowers that look similar to those of baby-blue-eyes. The calyces behind the petals are green with white-toothed red edges.
The purple Arizona fiesta flower, Pholistoma auritum var. arizonicum is considered a subspecies. The white fiesta flower, Pholistoma membranaceum, is a separate species which looks similar, but bears white flowers instead of purple.
