Nemophila menziesii    Hook. & Arn. var. menziesii                     Hydrophyllaceae (Waterleaf Family)   Native          Baby Blue Eyes

                             March Photo

Plant Characteristics:  Annual, diffuse, +/- succulent, the stems obscurely winged or angled, pubescent, 1-3 dm. long, often growing up among other plants; lvs. opposite, oval to oblong in outline, mostly 2-5 cm. long, pinnately divided into usually 9-11 rounded to oblong divisions, these mostly again toothed, sparingly appressed-hispid; petioles shorter to as long; pedicels slender, longer than lvs.; calyx lobes lanceolate, 4-6 mm. long, the auricles narrow, 1.5-2.5 mm. long; corolla semirotate to bowl shaped, 1.5-4 cm. broad, typically bright blue with a light center, the lobes obovate to oblong, longer than the tube; fls. ca. as long as the tube; fil. appendages broad or narrow, partly free or adherent along one edge or reduced to hairy lines; style 3-5 mm. long; caps. 5-12 mm. in diam.; seeds usually 10-20, oblong to ovoid, corrugate-tuberculate.

Habitat:  Flats and slopes below 5000 ft.; Coastal Sage Scrub, Chaparral, V. Grassland, S. Oak Wd., etc.; cismontane San Diego Co. to n. Calif.  Feb.-June.

Name:  Greek, nemos, grove, and phileo, to love. Grove-loving.  (Bailey 829). The species named for Archibald Menzies (1754-1842), a Scottish botanist who combined his knowledge of plants with his skill as a surgeon on an expedition 1790-1795 with Capt. George Vancouver on the ship Discovery.  They visited California 1792-1794. (Dale 123).

General:  Rare in the study area having been found only twice; first in 1985 on the bluff side of Back Bay Dr. where it joins Eastbluff Dr. and second, in early April 1993, on the sandy bench below Eastbluff's northerly end where several plants were found. (my comments).     David Douglas, a Scottish botanist who visited Calif. in l831-1832 introduced this native to Europe where it has long been a garden favorite.  (Dale 123).     About 13 species of North America, some used as garden annuals.  (Munz, Flora So. Calif. 501).

Text Ref:  Hickman, Ed. 690; Munz, Calif. Flora 521;  Munz, Flora So. Calif. 501; Roberts 26.

Photo Ref:  Mar 3 85 #6,7; Dec-April 92,93 # 21.

Identity:  by R. De Ruff, confirmed by F. Roberts.

Computer Ref:  Plant Data 61.

No plant specimen.

Last edit 1/26/03.

                                               April Photo