Duration: Annual

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous annuals, 5-30 cm tall, stems slender and fragile, freely branching, herbage with long glandular or aglandular hairs throughout.

Leaves: Alternate, suborbicular, 5-20 mm or more long and wide, margins coarsely toothed, petioles slender, slightly longer than the blade.

Flowers: White to pale pink or violet, yellow at the base of the corolla tube, corollas tubular or campanulate to funnelform, about 5 mm long, usually with folds or scales in the tube, calyx 5-parted almost to the base, lobes 2-5 mm long, becoming longer in fruit, stamens 2-3 mm long, glabrous, styles 2 mm long or less, hirsutulous, cleft above, flowers borne in few-flowered cymes.

Fruits: Oblong capsules 4 mm long, ends somewhat acute, surface puberulent. Seeds many, round to oblong, to 1 mm, light brown, pitted.

Ecology: Found on rocky talus, from 2,000-5,000 ft (610-1524 m); flowering March-May.

Distribution: Utah, Nevada, Arizona, California.

Notes: Good indicators for this species are the annual duration and the suborbicular leaves.

Ethnobotany: There is no use recorded for this species, but other species in this genus have uses.

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher 2012

Etymology: Phacelia is based on the Greek phakelos, meaning "cluster," and alluding to the densely crowded flower spikes of most species of the genus, while rotundifolia means with rounded leaves.