Scientific Family
Hydrophyllaceae
Other common names
Fremont's scorpion-weed
caterpillar weed
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
2 to 12 inches
Riparian
No
Low growing; stems grow upright or at an angle, branching a few times at the base; bright green basal leaves and the reddish stems covered with short hairs; funnel-shaped flowers in a small cluster at the top of the stems.
Few to several stems; leaves mostly near base, pinnatifid, smooth, toothed, or lobed margins; flowers in few flowered clusters, light purple, pink, blue, or rarely nearly white with yellow throats, stamen, style not protruding; seeds wrinkled all around.
Habitat
Found in sandy or gravelly soils along washes and in arid flats, often beneath shrubs.
Plant Community
Interior Chaparral
Grasslands
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
5000
Flower Characteristics
Few branched or simple funnel-shaped flowers in small cluster at top of stems; 1/16 inch stalk; 5 rounded lobes 1/8 to 1/4 inch long; corolla 1/2 inch long and 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide; yellow throat; stamens to 1/2 inch; short hairs toward base.
Flower color
Purple, blue, pink, white, yellow
Flower shape
Bell-shaped
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
Flower clusters
Elongated
Leaf and Stem Characteristics
Leaves oblong to oblanceolate (having a broad rounded apex and a tapering base); 3/4 to 2-1/2 inches long, 3/4 inch wide; deeply lobed or compound; stems longer than leaves blades.
Leaf type
Compound
Leaf color
Green, red
Leaf shape
Pinnatifid
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Stems
Spines
No
Fruit and Seed Characteristics
Oval to oblong, to 1/4 inch long; soft hairs toward base; indentations about 1/5 its length.
Fruit type
Capsule
Fruit color
Brown
About 12 seeds; 1/16 inch.