''Phacelia stellaris'' is a rare species of flowering plant in the borage family,
Boraginaceae
Boraginaceae, the Borago, borage or forget-me-not family, includes about 2,000 species of shrubs, trees, and herbs in 146 to 154 genus, genera with a worldwide distribution.
The APG IV system from 2016 classifies the Boraginaceae as single famil ...
, known by the common names star phacelia and Brand's phacelia.
Endangered habitat
It is native to
coastal sage scrub
Coastal sage scrub, also known as coastal scrub, CSS, or soft chaparral, is a low scrubland plant community of the California coastal sage and chaparral subecoregion, found in coastal California and northwestern coastal Baja California. It is ...
and
beach dunes on the coast of southern California and
Baja California
Baja California, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California, is a state in Mexico. It is the northwesternmost of the 32 federal entities of Mexico. Before becoming a state in 1952, the area was known as the North Territory of B ...
, where it is known from only a few occurrences. Its status is uncertain, as most of its recorded occurrences are in areas that have since been disturbed or degraded in this highly developed coastal region. There are confirmed populations around San Diego and along the
Santa Ana River
The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino County, California, San Bernardino and Riversid ...
.
Comprehensive Guide to Santa Ana River Flora.
University of California News April 19, 2007. The plant is a current candidate for federal protection as a threatened or endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...
in the United States.
Description
''Phacelia stellaris'' is an annual herb producing a spreading, branching stem up to about 25 centimeters long and lightly hairy in texture. The leaves are lance-shaped to oval with lobed edges, sometimes divided into smaller leaflets. The hairy inflorescence
In botany, an inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a plant's Plant stem, stem that is composed of a main branch or a system of branches. An inflorescence is categorized on the basis of the arrangement of flowers on a mai ...
is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers, each roughly half a centimeter long. The five-lobed flowers are pale blue or purple in color.
See also
*California chaparral and woodlands
The California chaparral and woodlands is a terrestrial ecoregion of southwestern Oregon, northern, central, and southern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico), located on the west coast of North America. It is a ...
*California coastal sage and chaparral ecoregion
The California coastal sage and chaparral () is a Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub ecoregion, defined by the World Wildlife Fund, located in southwestern California (United States) and northwestern Baja California (Mexico). It is part o ...
References
External links
Jepson Manual Treatment of ''Phacelia stellaris''''Phacelia stellaris'' — UC Photo gallery
{{Clear
stellaris
Flora of California
Flora of Baja California
Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
Natural history of San Diego County, California
Natural history of Orange County, California
Santa Ana River