Phacelia ramosissima Lehm. var. latifolia (Torr.) Cronq.                                                                                                     = Phacelia ramosissima var. suffrutescens   Hydrophyllaceae   Waterleaf Family                                                     Native                                                               Branching Phacelia

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Plant Characteristics:  Perennial, 30-150 cm. tall; stems glandular, prostrate to ascending, many-branched, hairs mostly long, coarse, stiff, bulb-based, some hairs soft, spreading; lf. blades 40-200 mm., generally much longer than petiole, oblong to widely ovate, compound; lflets. +/- sessile, elliptic to oblong, coarsely toothed or lobed, lobes often toothed; fls. +/- sessile; calyx lobes 4-6 mm., not generally longer in fr., oblanceolate to +/- spoon-shaped; corolla 5-8 mm., funnel to bell-shaped, white to lavender, scales ovate; stamens 7-10 mm., exserted, glabrous; style 7-10 mm., exserted; fr. 3-4 mm., ovoid, sharply bristly; seeds 2-4, 2-3 mm., pitted.

Habitat:  Frequent in canyons below 8000 ft.; mostly Chaparral and Yellow Pine Forests; interior s. Calif. from L. Calif. to Tehachapi Mts. and Panamint Mts. and to Santa Clara Co.  May-Aug.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 516).

Name: Greek, phakelos, a cluster, because of the crowded flowers.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 502).  Latin, ramus, a branch. (Jaeger 217).  The superlative degree ramosissima, meaning most branched. (John Johnson).  Latin, latus, broad, wide.  (Jaeger 137).    Latin, folium, leafy, full of leaves.  (Jaeger  104).  Latifolia, with broad or wide leaves.

General: Occasional on the bluffs northerly of 23rd St. My specimens have a slightly pubescent style unlike the Munz description which says it is glabrous.  This characteristic is not mentioned in Jepson. In 1995, I found a huge plant or plants at the edge of the willows in Santa Ana Heights.  This plant measured roughly 5 meters across in one direction and 4 meters in the other.  (my comments).       The Kawaiisu, Indians of the southern Sierra Nevada gathered the stems and leaves of P. ramosissima before the flowers appeared.  They cooked these by placing them on a flat rock and then covered them with hot rocks.  More stems and leaves were added and water was sprinkled on the hot rocks. (Campbell 139).       Perhaps 200 spp. of New World, especially in w. N. Am., some of horticultural value including the California Bluebell, Phacelia minor.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 502 & Bailey 830).       Bristly hairs may cause severe dermatitis.  California perennials often hybridize and are difficult to separate.  (Hickman, Ed. 691).       See P. tanacetifolia for additional information on the genus.  (my comment).

Text Ref:  Abrams, Vol. III 493; Hickman, Ed. 705; Munz, Flora So. Calif. 516; Roberts 27. 

Photo Ref:  April-May 91 # 3,4,6; April-May 92 # 35.

Identity: by R. De Ruff, confirmed by John Johnson.  

First Found:  April 1991.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 417.

Have plant specimen.

Last edit  12/26/04.  

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