''Phacelia'' (phacelia, scorpionweed, heliotrope) is a
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...
of about 200
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
perennial
A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also wide ...
herbaceous
Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials.
Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous"
The fourth edition of t ...
North
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
.
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
is particularly rich in species with over 90 recorded in the region.
The genus is traditionally placed at
family
Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...
order
Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to:
* Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood
* Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
with respect to each other, merges the latter into the former and considers the family
basal
Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''.
Science
* Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure
* Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
clade
A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...
. Other botanists continue to recognize the Hydrophyllaceae and Boraginales after analysing the secondary structure of the
ITS1
Internal transcribed spacer (ITS) is the spacer DNA situated between the small-subunit ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and large-subunit rRNA genes in the chromosome or the corresponding transcribed region in the polycistronic rRNA precursor transcript.
I ...
genetic region rather than its sequence for these higher taxonomic levels. This placed ''Phacelia'' within the Hydrophyllaceae. Further molecular taxonomic analysis of the Boraginales has divided the Boraginales in two and placed ''Phacelia'' among the monophyletic herbaceous Hydrophyllaceae in Boraginales II.
The genus includes both annual and perennial species. Many have been cultivated as
garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
and honey plants.
There are reports that glandular hairs of stems, flowers and leaves of some species of ''Phacelia'' secrete oil droplets that can cause an unpleasant skin rash ( contact dermatitis) in some people, specifically from ''P. brachyloba'', ''P. campanularia'', ''P. crenulata'',Berry, C. Z., et al. (1962) Dermatitis venenata from ''Phacelia crenulata''. ''Archives of Dermatology'' 85(6), 737-39. ''P. gina-glenneae'', ''P. grandiflora'', ''P. ixodes'', ''P. minor'', and ''P. pedicellata''. The major contact allergen of ''P. crenulata'' has been identified as geranyl
hydroquinone
Hydroquinone, also known as benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound that is a type of phenol, a derivative of benzene, having the chemical formula C6H4(OH)2. It has two hydroxyl groups bonded to a benzene ring in a ''para'' ...
and of ''P. minor'' as geranylgeranylhydroquinone.
The mining bee '' Andrena phaceliae'' is a specialist
pollinator
A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains.
Insects are the maj ...
Phacelia congesta
''Phacelia'' (phacelia, scorpionweed, heliotrope) is a genus of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the borage family, native to North and South America. California is particularly rich in species with over 90 record ...
''
File:Phacelia distans 7904.JPG, ''
Phacelia distans
''Phacelia distans'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common names distant phacelia and distant scorpionweed.Phacelia fremontii''
File:Phacelia hastata large plant.jpg, ''
Phacelia hastata
''Phacelia hastata'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, Boraginaceae. Its common names include silverleaf scorpionweed,
Phacelia sericea
''Phacelia sericea'', the silky phacelia or blue alpine phacelia, is a showy perennial species of ''Phacelia'' endemic to western North America. It grows mainly at subalpine to alpine elevations in forest openings or above treeline among rocks an ...
