Herbs or shrubs, mostly natives of western North America; often hairy;
with no stipules; the leaves mainly alternate or from the root; the
flowers chiefly blue or white, often in coiled clusters; the calyx
with five united sepals; the corolla with five united petals; the
stamens five, on the base of the corolla and alternate with its
lobes, with threadlike filaments and usually with swinging anthers;
the ovary superior, the styles two or two-cleft; the fruit a capsule,
containing few or many seeds. The leaves were formerly supposed to have
water-cavities in them, hence the misleading name. Some of this family
resemble some of the Borages, but the stamens are long, the styles are
two, at least above, and the ovary has not the four conspicuous lobes
of the latter family.
There are many kinds of Phacelia, hairy plants, with no appendages
between the sepals; resembling Hydrophyllum, except that the petals
overlap in the bud, instead of being rolled up, and the seeds are
different. The name is from the Greek, meaning "cluster."
[Sidenote: =Phacelia=
_Phacèlia lóngipes_
=Purple
Spring
California=]
This has pretty and rather unusual looking foliage, for the leaves
are a peculiar shade of bluish-green, with purplish margins. They
are somewhat sticky, soft and velvety, and although hairy are not
disagreeable to touch. The hairy, purplish stems grow from a few inches
to a foot tall and the pretty flowers are lilac or purple, with yellow
anthers, and measure three-quarters of an inch across. This grows on
sunny, sandy mountain slopes.
[Sidenote: =Phacelia=
_Phacèlia glechomaefòlia_
=Lilac, white
Summer
Ariz., Utah, Cal.=]
A low plant, partly creeping, with weak, brittle, sticky stems and
soft, slightly thickish, very dull yellowish-green leaves, sticky and
often dingy with dust. The flowers are usually violet, but sometimes
pure white, about three-eighths of an inch across, with yellow stamens,
and are rather pretty. I found this little plant growing under a huge
red rock in the Grand Canyon, on apparently perfectly dry, bare soil.
It has an aromatic and slightly unpleasant smell and is rare.
[Illustration: Phacelia longipes.