Phacelia (5)
See also Purple Fringe and Varileaf Scorpion Weed.
Gypsum Scorpionweed
Phacelia integrifolia
Family:
Borage (Boraginaceae)
AKA:
Gypsum Phacelia, Gypsum Blue Curls
Photo taken on:
May 11, 2012
Location:
White Rock, NM
Life Zones:
Foothills
Habitat:
Dry sandy areas, roadsides
Grows to 20" in height with a stout, sticky, hairy stem
and leaves with scalloped edges. Flowers have five purple protruding stamens and grow in
tight coils which open out like a scorpion's tail. The photo below at
left is the same plant 11 days later.
There were several albino plants growing within a colony of the usual colored phacelias.
Photo taken on:
June 5, 2019
Location:
Abiquiu Lake, NM
Silverleaf Phacelia
Phacelia hastata
Family:
Borage (Boraginaceae)
AKA: Silverleaf Scorpionweed, Whiteleaf Phacelia
Photo taken on:
July 4, 2006
Location:
Poverty Gulch, GV, CO
Life Zones:
Subalpine to alpine
Habitat:
Open rocky areas, meadows
Grows to 20". Leaves are simple, grayish-green from the silvery hairs that cover them. Flowers are lavender to dull purple in tight coils with long stamens.
Silverleaf Phacelia
Phacelia hastata var. alpina
Family:
Borage (Boraginaceae)
AKA:
Whiteleaf Phacelia
Photo taken on:
July 28, 2008
Location:
Old Monarch Pass, CO
Life Zones:
Alpine
Habitat:
Open rocky areas, scree
Low, spreading plant with short, clusters of tiny flowers. Leaves are covered in white hairs.
Glandular Phacelia
Phacelia glandulosa
Family:
Borage (Boraginaceae)
AKA:
Photo taken on:
July 16, 2013
Location:
Alpine Loop, W of Lake City, CO
Life Zones:
Subalpine to alpine
Habitat: Gravelly, rocky areas
Grows to 15" with deeply cut leaves. I thought this was Phacelia tanacetifolia but that does not grow where I found it. It is covered in sticky hairs and is strongly scented.
Cleftleaf Wildheliotrope
Phacelia crenulata
Family:
Borage (Boraginaceae)
AKA:
Scorpionweed, Scalloped Phacelia, Caterpillarweed,
Notch-leaf Scorpion-weed
Photo taken on:
April 29, 2014
Location:
Plaza Blanca, Abiquiu, NM
Life Zones:
Foothills
Habitat: Canyons, sandy, gravelly areas
Grows 6 to 18" high with sticky, hairy green leaves that smell of onions when crushed. The leaves are shorter and wider than P. integrifolia and have notches rather than scalloped edges. Flowers are ½" across and can have a white throat. Stamens are gold-tipped rather than the blue of P. integrifolia.