Phacelia hastata facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Phacelia hastata
Conservation status
Secure (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Genus:	Phacelia
Species:	hastata
Synonyms
Phacelia alpina Phacelia frigida Phacelia leucophylla

Phacelia hastata is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Its common names include silverleaf scorpionweed, silverleaf phacelia, and white-leaf phacelia. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta south to California and east to Nebraska. It can be found in many types of habitat, including scrub, woodland, and forest, up to an elevation of 13,000 feet.

Description

Phacelia hastata is a variable perennial herb with a stem 5 to 50 centimeters long. It is coated in a fine, silvery pubescence. The deeply veined, gray-green leaves are lance-shaped to oval, and smooth-edged, lobed, or divided into leaflets. Most of the leaves are in a tuft around the base of the plant. The flower has an urn- or bell-shaped white or lavender corolla about 4 to 7 millimeters long. The stamens protrude. The fruit is a hairy capsule a few millimeters in length.

There are up to four accepted varieties:

• P. hastata var. charlestonensis – Charleston phacelia, Spring Mountains phacelia; endemic to Nevada
• P. hastata var. compacta – compact phacelia, timberline phacelia; a matlike form occurring at elevation
• P. hastata var. dasyphylla – spearshaped phacelia; limited to California and Oregon
• P. hastata var. hastata – silverleaf phacelia; rangewide

Gallery

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  Flower

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  scorpioid flowerheads

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  var. charlestonensis

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  var. compacta

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  var compact large plant