Nemophila pulchella
| Nemophila pulchella Eastwood's baby blue-eyes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Asterids |
| Order: | (unplaced) |
| Family: | Boraginaceae |
| Genus: | Nemophila |
| Species: | N. pulchella |
| Binomial name | |
| Nemophila pulchella Eastw. | |
Nemophila pulchella, known by the common name Eastwood's baby blue-eyes, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family. It is endemic to California, where it is found from the San Francisco Bay Area to the southern Sierra Nevada to the Transverse Ranges. It grows in many types of mountain, foothill, and valley habitats.
Description
Nemophila pulchella is an annual herb with a fleshy and delicate stem. The leaves are up to 5 centimeters long and generally divided into five wide, rounded lobes. Flowers are solitary, each on a pedicel up to 3 centimeters in length. The flower has a calyx of hairy, pointed sepals. The bowl-shaped flower corolla is white or blue, the largest just over a centimeter wide.
There are three varieties.
- Frémont's baby blue-eyes, var. fremontii, has white flowers, as does
- var. gracilis, which is endemic to the Sierra Nevada foothills
- var. pulchella has blue flowers with white centers.
External links
- Jepson Manual Treatment - Nemophila pulchella
- USDA Plants Profile: Nemophila pulchella
- Nemophila pulchella Photo gallery