44 Popular Studies of California Wild Flowers 



In Europe the Nemophila is frequently called the "California 

 Bluebell," but it is not in the least bell-shaped, unless one is con- 

 sidering its half-opened buds. It is somewhat saucer-shaped; a 

 clear, bright blue in color, with a white center, delicately veined with 

 blue; its blossoms vary in size and color and are from a half inch 

 to an inch or more across. The finest specimens I have ever seen 

 were growing in the Bay Region. It is a member of the Phacelia 

 division of the Water-leaf Family. Nemophila means "Lover of 

 the Grove" ; but, quite to the contrary, the plant formerly covered 

 vast open spaces, and occasional fields of them may still be found. 

 Dr. Abrams, in his "Flora of Los Angeles and Vicinity," says that 

 this species is quite frequent on sandy or dry plains and foothills 

 throughout that range. These flowers are extremely sensitive in 

 nature and seem to shrink from the near approach of unthinking- 

 people, but respond wonderfully to congenial influences. Insignis 

 means plainly marked, and their delicate blue veins trace straight to 

 honey cells for their lovers, the bees, who hover over the blossoms 

 in ecstasy. They are rich in nectar. The family name, Water-leaf, 

 is misleading; the leaves of the members of this family were for- 

 merly supposed to have water cavities. This is incorrect and is only 

 one of the innumerable and regrettable errors that somehow have 

 crept into the naming of certain plant families and species. The 

 Spanish Californians, after their own quaint fashion, call these 

 pretty blossoms "Mariana," after the Virgin Mother. 



There are a number of species of Nemophila and some botanists 

 have divided them into innumerable sub-species, which but serve to 

 confuse and mislead the non-botanical ; but the Baby Blue Eyes is an 

 easily distinguished variety; when once seen, it is not forgotten. 



The most commonly distributed Nemophila, frequently found 

 in the valleys of the Coast Ranges and Sierras, and quite common 

 in the Bay Regions, along roadsides and in ravines, is one so pale 

 an azure as to be almost white ; it is often called, simply, Baby Eyes 

 because finely dotted with tiny, pale blue or sometimes faint purple 

 specks. This variety really does prefer the borders of moist wood- 

 lands and underbrush, thereby perhaps meriting the name "Nemo- 

 phila" Lover of the Grove. It varies in color from almost white 

 to pale blue. 



The purple-spotted Nemopila, N. maculata Benth., is commonly 

 found in the Yosemite and in moderate altitudes of the Sierra 

 Nevada Range. It is popular with visitors and is easily recognized 

 by its saucer-shaped blooms, an inch or more in diameter, and its 

 striking colors white, dotted with purple, with a deep purple blotch 

 at the tip of each lobe of the corolla. The concolor variety occa- 

 sionally found in the same locality lacks this showy purple blotch 

 on the petals. 



The Climbing Nemophila, N. aurita Lindl., is found in shady 

 places in the Coast Ranges and Sierra Nevada foothills, but is far 

 more common in the south, where it is said to have once been very 

 popular, for some reason, with the Spanish senoritas, who were 

 wont to wear its blossoms on gala occasions. This Nemophila some- 

 what resembles nightshade and is rather coarse in appearance. The 



