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Nemophila menziesii

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Baby blue eyes
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Boraginaceae
Genus: Nemophila
Species:
N. menziesii
Binomial name
Nemophila menziesii

Nemophila menziesii, known commonly as baby blue eyes or baby's-blue-eyes,[1] is an annual herb, native to western North America. [2]

Distribution

The plant is native to California, Baja California, and Oregon. [3]

It grows virtually throughout California at elevations from sea level up to almost 6,500 feet (2,000 m). It grows in many types of habitats, including chaparral, valley grasslands, and montane locales. [4]

Description

Nemophila menziesii is variable in appearance. The leaves are lobed and oppositely arranged. The flowers are blue or white.

Varieties

The species includes three varieties, two of which bear blue flowers, which are: [5] [6]

  • 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.
  • 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 range, and into the Mojave Desert 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, chaparral, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes, but it does not occur above 5200 feet (1600 meters).

Cultivation

It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant, as annual wildflower in native plant, water conserving, traditional, and wildlife gardens.

It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an introduced species, such as in Alaska.[3]

References

  1. ^ "BSBI List 2007" (xls). Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 2014-10-17.
  2. ^ GRIN Species Profile - Nemophila menziesii
  3. ^ a b USDA
  4. ^ Jepson (TJM2)
  5. ^ CalFlora: Varieties
  6. ^ USDA: Subordinate taxa
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