Phacelia is from the Greek, "Phacelus", for "bundle" and refers to the clusters of flower branches. 

Semi-desert.  Canyons, openings, sand.  Spring.
Corona Arch Trail, April 13, 2005.

Phacelia crenulata varies greatly in the size of the plant and the number and size of flowers.  Although it is most often 6-14 inches tall, it is commonly 16-24 inches tall.  Flower heads can be quite small or luxuriously large.  Flower clusters are always in a curling scorpion tail and this gives rise to the common name "Scorpionweed", a name shared with a number of other species (some are members of the Waterleaf Family, some are in other families).  In good spring flowering years, such as 2003 and 2005, thousands of plants color rocky/ sandy flats and slopes in lavender-blue.  

More Phacelia crenulata photographs.

The Latin "Cren" ("notches") and "lat" ("wide") refer to the leaf shape.

Subalpine, alpine.  Rocky openings, talus.  Summer.
Below American Basin, July 28, 2007.

This lovely Phacelia is both sticky and strongly scented.  It enjoys open rocky areas where its colors really stand out.  It grows to a maximum of fifteen inches tall and typically spreads seven to ten inches wide.  Leaves are deeply cut and are both basal and cauline (along the stem).

Thomas Nuttall collected this species (probably in the mid 1830s) in Wyoming and named it in 1848.

More Phacelia glandulosa photographs.

Semi-desert.  Shrublands, grasslands.  Spring.
Sand dunes south of the Hogback, New Mexico, April 24, 2007.

Phacelia integrifolia flowers are a most delicate, porcelain-like violet-pink.  The plant grows four to twenty inches tall and flowers for many weeks.  It typically inhabits dry, sandy soil and dunes.

John Torrey named this species in 1826 from a specimen that Edwin James collected, probably in 1820, on the "banks of the Platte". (Quotation from Intermountain Flora.)

More Phacelia integrifolia photographs.

Subalpine, alpine.  Meadows, openings, tundra.  Summer.
Cross Mountain Trail, July 13, 2005.

Silky Phacelia is a favorite of many wildflower enthusiasts; it is certainly one of my favorites. Flowers are lovely light-to-dark purple with protruding stamens tipped in gold-coated anthers. The plant is usually about ten inches tall but can be eighteen inches. It is common in meadows above tree line and on high mountain passes from mid-June through August.

More Phacelia sericea photographs.

"Sericea" is Greek for "silk". Thomas Drummond was the first to collect this lovely plant; he found it in the late 1820s in the northern Rocky Mountains.

Range map © John Kartesz,
Floristic Synthesis of North America

State Color Key

Species present in state and native
Species present in state and exotic
Species not present in state

County Color Key

Species present and not rare
Species present and rare
Species extirpated (historic)
Species extinct
Species noxious
Species exotic and present
Native species, but adventive in state
Eradicated
Questionable presence

Range map for Phacelia crenulata

Range map for Phacelia glandulosa

Range map for Phacelia integrifolia

Range map for Phacelia sericea