WATERLEAF FAMILY 



HYDROPHYLLACEAE 



PURSH'S PHACELIA 



Phacelia Purshii Buckley 



Pursh's Phacelia is not very common but in favorable years 

 is abundant locally. It grows in moist woods and thickets or in 

 open places from Pennsylvania to Minnesota and south to 



North Carolina and Mississippi. It is 

 usually much branched and grows 6-12 

 inches high. Leaves are similar to those 

 shown but the lower are petioled. 



The delicate light blue flowers of 

 this plant make a pleasant addition to 

 the annual flower garden. They bloom 

 from April to June in quite strongly 

 i-sided clusters. The calyx is deeply 

 parted into 5 narrow segments. To the 

 base of the light blue to white corolla 

 and alternating with its fringed lobes 

 are attached the 5 stamens. The fruit 

 is a capsule containing usually 4 seeds. 



In the southern part of the state the 

 Loose-flowered Phacelia, Phacelia bi- 

 pinnatifida Michx., is not uncommon. Its 

 home is rich shaded banks, where it may 

 be found blooming in May and June. 

 The flower clusters are not i-sided and 

 the lobes of the bright blue corolla are 

 not fringed, but there are 5 pairs of ap- 

 pendages on the inner side of the corolla 

 tube between the stamens. The filaments 

 are bearded and the anthers extend from 

 the flower. There are 2 ovules on each ot 

 the 2 placentas and consequently 4 seeds 

 in the globose capsule. This Phacelia may 

 have flowers varying to deep purple, and 

 their abundant bloom enlivens many moist 

 thickets from North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri, south to Alabama. 



The Small-flowered Phacelia, Phacelia dubia (L.) Small, is known 

 from New York to Kansas, south to Georgia and Texas. It is a some- 

 what hairy, slender annual which branches from the base and is 5-12 

 inches high. The solitary racemes are loosely 5-15-flowered. The 

 bluish white flowers are on threadlike pedicels that are generally 

 longer than the oblong calyx lobes, and the barely exserted anthers 

 are on slightly hairy filaments. It is abundant on moist shaded 

 ground in certain parts of southern Illinois. 



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