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Taxon  Report  
Phacelia sericea  (Graham) A. Gray  var. ciliosa  Rydb.
Blue alpine phacelia
Phacelia sericea var. ciliosa is a perennial herb that is native to California, and also found elsewhere in western North America.
California Rare Plant Rank: 2B.3 (rare, threatened, or endangered in CA; common elsewhere).
Siskiyou Del Norte Modoc Humboldt Shasta Lassen Trinity Plumas Tehama Butte Mendocino Glenn Sierra Yuba Lake Nevada Colusa Placer Sutter El Dorado Yolo Alpine Napa Sonoma Sacramento Mono Amador Solano Calaveras Tuolumne San Joaquin Marin Contra Costa Alameda Santa Cruz Mariposa Madera San Francisco San Mateo Merced Fresno Stanislaus Santa Clara Inyo San Benito Tulare Kings Monterey San Bernardino San Luis Obispo Kern Santa Barbara Ventura Los Angeles Riverside Orange San Diego Imperial
Observation Search
~30 records in California
yellowone or more occurrences
within a 7.5-minute quadrangle
DJJJASONAFMM

Bloom Period
Parent: Phacelia sericea
Genus: Phacelia
Family: Hydrophyllaceae  
Category: angiosperm  
PLANTS group:Dicot
Jepson eFlora section: eudicot

Communities: Red Fir Forest
Name Status:
Accepted by JEF + CNPS

Alternate Names:
JEFPhacelia ciliosa
JEFPhacelia sericea ssp. ciliosa
JEFPhacelia sericea var. nelsonii
PLANTSPhacelia sericea ssp. ciliosa
Information about  Phacelia sericea var. ciliosa from other sources
Nursery availability from CNPLX
Commercial availability unknown.
Jepson eFlora

USDA PLANTS Profile (PHSEC)

Photos on Calflora

Photos on CalPhotos

Google Images

Photos on iNaturalist

ID Tips on PlantID.net

[wikipedia] Subspecies Info: Subspecies Two subspecies are recognized. Phacelia sericea subsp. ciliosa is distributed from Oregon and California east to Wyoming and Colorado. Phacelia sericea subsp. sericea is restricted to the Rocky Mountains, Alaska, British Columbia and Washington. The latter is smaller, more densely hairy, shorter, i.e., less than 0.3 m (1 ft), with relatively narrow and blunt leaf segments.[4] Where the ranges overlap, P. sericea ssp. ciliosa occurs at a lower elevation than ssp. sericea. These are listed as subspecies by the USDA PLANTS database and ITIS, and as varieties by Jepson and Hitchcock. (contributed by Mary Ann Machi)


Suggested Citation
Calflora: Information on California plants for education, research and conservation, with data contributed by public and private institutions and individuals. [web application]. 2024. Berkeley, California: The Calflora Database [a non-profit organization]. Available: https://www.calflora.org/   (Accessed: 03/29/2024).