Phacelia crenulata

Phacelia crenulata
Conservation status

Secure  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: (unplaced)
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Phacelia
Species: P. crenulata
Binomial name
Phacelia crenulata
Torr. ex S.Watson

Phacelia crenulata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Its common names include notch-leaf scorpion-weed,[1] notch-leaved phacelia, cleftleaf wildheliotrope, and heliotrope phacelia.[2] It is native to the southwestern United States as far east as Colorado and New Mexico, and Baja California and Sonora in Mexico.[3]

Description

This species is an aromatic annual plant growing up to 80 centimeters tall. It is coated in stiff, glandular hairs. The leaves are 2 to 12 centimeters long, the largest occurring around the base of the stem and those higher on the stem much smaller. They are generally oblong in shape with wavy or lobed edges. The inflorescence is a coiled cyme of several flowers. The flower has a bell-shaped purple or blue corolla up to a centimeter long. The corolla has a white tube and sometimes a white throat. The stamens and style are well exserted from mouth of the flower. The fruit is a somewhat rounded capsule a few millimeters wide.[4]

Taxonomy

There are 2[3] to 5[1] varieties of the species, including:[4]

The varieties can intergrade in some areas.[4]

Impacts

As do many other phacelias, this species causes contact dermatitis.[5]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Phacelia crenulata. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  2. Phacelia crenulata. Calflora.
  3. 3.0 3.1 Phacelia crenulata. Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 Phacelia crenulata. The Jepson Manual.
  5. Berry, C. Z., et al. (1962). Dermatitis venenata from Phacelia crenulata. Archives of Dermatology 85(6), 737-39.
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