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Phacelia rotundifolia - roundleaf phacelia

Scientific Family
Hydrophyllaceae
Other common names
roundleaf scorpionweed
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
To about 1 foot
Riparian
No

Slender-stemmed annual with short, stiff, glandular hairs; leaves are distinctly rounded; grows erect or lies flat and curves upward. The flower stalk is a 1-sided coiling cluster of white to pink or pale violet bell-shaped flowers with a yellow throat.

Freely branching; slender, fragile stems; surfaces covered with stiff, glandular hairs; leaf blades suborbicular, coarsely toothed; seedhead coiling; white to pink or pale violet narrow bell-like corolla, yellow throat; capsule fruit; seeds 50-100.

Habitat

Rocky slopes, crevices and ledges as well as creosote bush scrub and pinyon-juniper woodland.

Plant Community
Desert Scrub
Grasslands
Interior Chaparral
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
5000

Flower Characteristics

Hairy flower stalk has small rounded coiling clusters of bell to funnel-like flowers that flare outward widening from a narrow tube-like base. Each flower is 1/4 inch long and 1/8 inch wide with 5 white to pink or pale violet petals and a yellow throat.

Flower color
White to pink or pale purple, yellow
Flower shape
Bell-shaped
Tubular
Yes
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
May
Flower clusters
Rounded

Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Stems are slender, fragile, erect to recumbent, few to many-branched and glandular with short stiff hairs. Leaf blades to 3/4 inch wide and long with a nearly round shape with rough scalloped to toothed edges. Leaf stalk is a bit longer than the blade.

Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Green
Leaf shape
Round or oval
Leaf margin
Toothed
Leaf attachment
Alternate
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No

Fruit and Seed Characteristics

The fruit is an oblong capsule gradually tapering to a point at both ends. It grows to about 1/4 inch long and is coated with fine downy hairs.

Fruit type
Capsule

Numerous light brown seeds (50 to 100) are produced. Each seed is round to oblong, about 1/16 of an inch with shallow indentations along its surface (pitted).