''Nemophila menziesii'', known commonly as baby blue eyes or baby's-blue-eyes, is an annual herb, native to western

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. Historically, it was eaten by cows kept by the

Kawaiisu The Kawaiisu Nation (pronounced: "ka-wai-ah-soo") are a tribe of indigenous people of California in the United States. The Kawaiisu Nation is the only treatied tribe in California, Ratified Treaty (No. 256), 9 Stat. 984, Dec. 30, 1849. This Tr ...

Distribution

The plant is native to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

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 ...

, and

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

. It grows virtually throughout California at elevations from sea level up to almost . It grows in many types of

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s, including

chaparral Chaparral ( ) is a shrubland plant plant community, community found primarily in California, southern Oregon, and northern Baja California. It is shaped by a Mediterranean climate (mild wet winters and hot dry summers) and infrequent, high-intens ...

, valley

grassland A grassland is an area where the vegetation is dominance (ecology), dominated by grasses (Poaceae). However, sedge (Cyperaceae) and rush (Juncaceae) can also be found along with variable proportions of legumes such as clover, and other Herbaceo ...

s, and montane locales.

Description

''Nemophila menziesii'' is variable in appearance. Lower leaves are stalked, lobed and oppositely arranged, with five to thirteen lobes, each entire or with one to three teeth. Upper leaves are more or less sessile and less lobed than lower. The stalk of the inflorescence is . Calyx lobes are . The flower is blue with a white center or all white, usually with blue veins and black dots near the center. It is wide. The tube is less than or equal to the filaments.

Varieties

The species includes three

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''atomaria'' has white flowers with black dots, often with a faint blue tint or blue veins in the corolla. It is found on coastal bluffs or grassy slopes in Oregon, Northwestern California, the Central Coast of California, and the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''integrifolia'' has blue flowers, with black dots at the center and deep blue veins. It is found in grasslands, canyons, woodlands, and slopes in the Central Coast, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, east of the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada ( ) is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primari ...

range, and into the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert (; ; ) is a desert in the rain shadow of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains and Transverse Ranges in the Southwestern United States. Named for the Indigenous peoples of the Americas, indigenous Mohave people, it is located pr ...

and Baja California *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'' has bright blue flowers with white centers that are generally dotted with black. It is found virtually throughout California, in meadows, grasslands,

, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes, but it does not occur above .

Cultivation

It is also cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...

, as annual wildflower in

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equi ...

, water conserving, traditional, and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or habitat garden or backyard restoration) is an Biophysical environment, environment created with the purpose to serve as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater t ...

s. It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, such as in

Alaska Alaska ( ) is a non-contiguous U.S. state on the northwest extremity of North America. Part of the Western United States region, it is one of the two non-contiguous U.S. states, alongside Hawaii. Alaska is also considered to be the north ...

.USDA PLANTS
/ref>

Gallery

File:Baby Blue Eyes o.jpg, Location unknown File:Baby blue-eyes, Calf Canyon.jpg, Baby blue-eyes, central SLO County, CA File:Nemophilamenziesii-pennyblack.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' 'Penny Black', Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden File:BabyBlueEyes.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''atomaria'' File:Baby Blue Eyes Scanography.jpg, Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), scanography from San Diego, CA File:Boraginaceae Nemophila menziesii Baby_Blue_eyes.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''integrifolia'', close-up

References

External links

*
Calflora Database: ''Nemophila menziesii'' (baby blue eyes)

CalPhotos - ''Nemophila menziesii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4838435 menziesii Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of Oregon Flora of Wyoming Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1833 Flora without expected TNC conservation status Taxa named by George Arnott Walker Arnott Taxa named by William Jackson Hooker