''Nemophila menziesii'', known commonly as baby blue eyes or baby's-blue-eyes, is an annual herb, native to western North America.

Distribution

The plant is native to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

Baja California Baja California (; 'Lower California'), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Baja California ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Baja California), is a state in Mexico. It is the northernmost and westernmost of the 32 federal entities of Mex ...

, and

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. It grows virtually throughout California at elevations from sea level up to almost . It grows in many types of

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

s, including chaparral, valley grasslands, and montane locales.

Description

''Nemophila menziesii'' is variable in appearance. Lower leaves are stalked, lobed and oppositely arranged, with five to thirteen lobes, each entire or with one to three teeth. Upper leaves are more or less sessile and less lobed than lower. The stalk of the inflorescence is . Calyx lobes are . The flower is blue with a white center or all white, usually with blue veins and black dots near the center. It is wide. The tube is less than or equal to the filaments.

Varieties

The species includes three

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

: *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''atomaria'' has white flowers with black dots, often with a faint blue tint or blue veins in the corolla. It is found on coastal bluffs or grassy slopes in Oregon, Northwestern California, the Central Coast of California, and the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''integrifolia'' has blue flowers, with black dots at the center and deep blue veins. It is found in grasslands, canyons, woodlands, and slopes in the Central Coast, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, east of the Sierra Nevada range, and into the

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

and Baja California *''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''menziesii'' has bright blue flowers with white centers that are generally dotted with black. It is found virtually throughout California, in meadows, grasslands, chaparral, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes, but it does not occur above 5200 feet (1600 meters).

Cultivation

It is also cultivated as an

ornamental plant Ornamental plants or garden plants are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars that ...

, as annual wildflower in

native plant In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often popularised as "with no human intervention") during history. The term is equ ...

, water conserving, traditional, and

wildlife garden A wildlife garden (or wild garden) is an environment created by a gardener that serves as a sustainable haven for surrounding wildlife. Wildlife gardens contain a variety of habitats that cater to native and local plants, birds, amphibian ...

s. It can occasionally be found outside its native range as an

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived ther ...

, such as in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

.USDA PLANTS
/ref>

Gallery

File:Baby Blue Eyes o.jpg, Location unknown File:Baby blue-eyes, Calf Canyon.jpg, Baby blue-eyes, central SLO County, CA File:Nemophilamenziesii-pennyblack.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' 'Penny Black', Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden File:BabyBlueEyes.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''atomaria'' File:Baby Blue Eyes Scanography.jpg, Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii), scanography from San Diego, CA File:Boraginaceae Nemophila menziesii Baby_Blue_eyes.jpg, ''Nemophila menziesii'' var. ''integrifolia'', close-up

References

External links

*
Calflora Database: ''Nemophila menziesii'' (baby blue eyes)

CalPhotos - ''Nemophila menziesii''
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4838435 menziesii Flora of California Flora of Baja California Flora of Oregon Flora of Wyoming Flora of the California desert regions Flora of the Cascade Range Flora of the Great Basin Flora of the Klamath Mountains Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States) Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands Natural history of the California Coast Ranges Natural history of the Peninsular Ranges Natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area Natural history of the Santa Monica Mountains Natural history of the Transverse Ranges Plants described in 1833 Flora without expected TNC conservation status