Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phacelia bipinnatifida
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Read more about Fernleaf Phacelia at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
Phacelia bipinnatifida and Hydrophyllum virginianum are sometimes confused. P. bipinnatifida has the larger and more basal leaves distinctly bipinnatifid, the lower pinnae often stalked (vs. pinnatifid, the basal or terminal pinnae sometimes 2-lobed, all the pinnae more-or-less sessile). See Weakley's Flora (2022) for other differences.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phacelia bipinnatifida
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phacelia bipinnatifida
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-05-001:
Phacelia bipinnatifida FAMILY Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia bipinnatifida
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia brevistyla
COMMON NAME:
Fernleaf Phacelia, Purple Phacelia, Forest Phacelia
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_phbi2_001_lvd
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_bipinnatifida_2c
March
Inflorescence a helicoid cyme (cincinnus), per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_bipinnatifida_4
March
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_p_bipinnatifida_4b
March
Calyx lobes linear-lanceolate, 5-8mm long, both surfaces strigose, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Ed Pivorun ebp090404_4943
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
Stamens are hairy and extend beyond the corolla, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm090404_230
April Walker County GA
Pigeon Mountain
)
JK Marlow jkm090404_231
April Walker County GA
Pigeon Mountain
Flowers are dusty purple with 5 rounded lobes & a white center, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm090405_056
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
Leaves hairy, mottled, & pinnately divided twice, the lobes coarsely toothed, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_782
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Emits a distinctly musty odor when crushed, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_783
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm150424_815
April Blount County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170414_597
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170414_599
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm170414_600
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1508
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1550
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Keith Bradley kab_p_bipinnatifida_1568
April Haywood County NC
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_phacelia_brevistyla_2
April
Some consider Phacelia brevistyla to be distinct from P. bipinnatifida.
)
Richard and Teresa Ware rtw_phacelia_brevistyla_4
April
The style of P. brevistyla is included (vs. exserted in bipinnatifida), per Flora of the southeastern United States (JK Small, 1913).
)
Steve Marlow snm090405_024
April Walker County GA
The Pocket on Pigeon Mountain
A biennial 8-24" tall, with hairy stems, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm0305y_05
May Rutherford County NC
Chimney Rock Park
Fruit: Capsules with 2-4 black seeds, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm190913_1438
September Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phacelia bipinnatifida
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phacelia bipinnatifida
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phacelia bipinnatifida
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-05-001:
Phacelia bipinnatifida
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia bipinnatifida
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia brevistyla
1051
Forb
Biennial
Habitat: cove forests, especially where rocky; also popular as a native plant for horticultural use, and sometimes found as a persistent or spreading from horticultural use, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Common in Mountains of GA & NC (rare elsewhere in GA-NC-SC)
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
Click here to see a map showing all occurrences known to SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria. (Zoom in to see more detail.)
LEAVES:
Simple: Pinnately divided, the segments lobed or parted
Basal & alternate
Stem leaves have petioles.
FLOWER:
Spring
Blue-violet
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-parted calyx
5-lobed campanulate corolla
5 strongly exserted stamens, fused to corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Inflorescence a helicoid cyme
FRUIT:
Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Gardening with Native Plants of the South (Wasowski & Wasowski, 1994, 2020) p133
- Gardening with the Native Plants of Tennessee (Hunter, 2002) p157
- Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers (Campbell, Hutson, Sharp, & Hutson, 1962) p018
- Guide to the Wildflowers of SC (Porcher & Rayner, 2001) p130
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide (Newcomb, 1977) p234
- Wildflowers of the Atlantic Southeast (Cotterman, Waitt, & Weakley, 2019) p431
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p076
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p210
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p223
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p208
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p245
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p135
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