Phacelia tanacetifolia
(Scorpion Weed)
Family - Boraginaceae
Category - Annual
Origin - California, USA to Mexico
Year of Introduction - 1832
Season of Interest - Spring, Summer
Hardiness - H4
Height - up to 1.2m
Width - up to 45cm
Location - The Cool Garden
Description: An annual with a bushy habit and upright stems. Fern-like mid-green leaves are pinnate with pinnatifid leaflets. Abundant small, bowl-shaped flowers are pale lavender with deeper purple markings towards the centres. Each Bloom has long, showy blue stamens. The flowers are held in dense, curved Cymes and are produced from mid to late spring. Very attractive to pollinating insects and often used in wildflower meadows and as green manure.
Additional common names - Fern leaf Phacelia, Fiddleneck.
Flower:
Many small, bowl-shaped flowers are pale lavender and marked with deeper purple towards the centres. Each bloom has long, prominent blue stamens. The flowers are held in dense, curved cymes and are produced in April and May.
Flower colour: Purple
Flower shape: Bowl-shaped flowers held in curved cymes
Flowering time: April, May
Foliage:
Fern-like, mid-green leaves are pinnate with pinnatifid leaflets. The leaves are usually Alternately arranged on the upright stems.
Foliage Senescence: Deciduous
Foliage Shape: Pinnate with pinnatifid leaflets
Poison Information:
The sap from the leaves of this plant may cause skin irritation.
Propagation:
Seed.
Cultivation:
Best in full sun in fertile, well drained soil.