Phacelia heterophylla / varied leaf scorpionweed

Adjectives: native, silvery leaves

Also known as: varied leaf phacelia, virgate scorpionweed, varileaf scorpionweed
Synonyms: Phacelia heterophyllum
See also: Phacelia sericea / silky phacelia, P. hastata / silverleaf scorpionweed

---

Phacelia heterophylla  is a biennial or short-lived perennial emerging each season from a taproot. It usually has only one main stem. All parts of the plant are covered with stiff, glandular hairs, so the plant is rather sticky. The plants range in height from as little as 5 to as tall as 30 inches.

Varied leaf scorpionweed leaves are grey-green, and mostly toward the base of the plant. Each leaf has 1-2 pairs of leaflets, the larger one being at the tip. The leaves are supported by petioles that are as long as, or longer than, the blades.

The main “draw” of the plant is clearly its flower. While most published photos seem to show only small clumps of flowers, as shown in the gallery, varied leaf scorpionweed is first recognizable (at least to me) by the spiral arrangement of those clumps along the stem. Like other scorpionweeds, the stem supporting the Inflorescence has short, very bristly hairs.

The individual flower heads are tight green spheres when they first appear. The flowers are borne on a cluster of curving stalks – technically in a cyme – and they tend to point in the same direction, angled upwards and outwards. When they open, the calyx is hairy, like the stems, and white-ish, or green-ish or even lavender. The individual flowers are bell-shaped with fused petals and very long stamens. The latter characteristic, again, is common to the scorpionweeds. The flower stalks are then nestled among leaves and are often in coiled clumps, i.e. like scorpion tails.

Individual varied leaf scorpionweed flowers are teeny and short lived. As they wither, the petals turn light brown but the stamens persist for a while after that.

Varied leaf scorpionweed is found in a variety of habitats, generally without major disturbances. It flowers in the spring and summer.

P. heterophylla is often confused with P. hastata making field identification difficult. They are found in similar habitats but P. hastata has smaller leaves at the base and a dense covering of short hairs. P. heterophylla has fewer hairs and they are bristly. P. hastata also produces several stems from the common base, rather than just one.

Finally, P. heterophylla is apparently far less toxic than P. sericea, lacking the cyanogenic compounds and simply causing dermatitis. I’m not itching to test that hypothesis.