Nemophila

Nemophila is a genus found in Nemophila

the flowering plant family
Boraginaceae.

Most of the species in

Nemophila contain the phrase
"baby blue eyes" in their
common names. N. menziesii
has the common name of
baby blue eyes
"baby blue eyes". N. parviflora Nemophila menziesii
is called the "smallflower baby
Scientific classification
blue-eyes" and N. spatulata is
called the "Sierra baby blue
eyes". An exception to this Kingdom: Plantae
naming tendency is N. Clade: Tracheophytes
maculata, whose common Clade: Angiosperms
name is fivespot.
Clade: Eudicots
Nemophila species are mainly Clade: Asterids
native to the western United Order: Boraginales
States, though some species
Family: Boraginaceae
are also found in western
Subfamily: Hydrophylloideae
Canada and Mexico, and in the
southeastern United States. Nemophila
Genus:
Nutt.
Nemophila are commonly offered for sale for garden
cultivation. Generally these are N. menziesii.

Contents
1 Description
2 Occurrence
3 Etymology
4 Species
5 References
6 External links

Description
All species of Nemophila are annuals, and most bloom in the
spring. Their flowers have five petals and are bell or cup-
shaped, and purple, blue, or white in color, often spotted or
marked. The stamens are included and there is only one
ovary chamber.

The leaves are simple, with an opposite or alternate

arrangement. The petiole is generally bristly. The leaf blade
is pinnately toothed or lobed.

The fruit is 2–7 mm wide and generally enclosed by the

calyx. The fruit itself is spherical to ovoid in shape. It is also
hairy.

The seeds are ovoid, smooth, wrinkled or pitted. At one end

there is a colorless, conic appendage.

Occurrence
Some of the species of Nemophila are of restricted range.
For example, Nemophila menziesii has been observed only in
western North America, but chiefly in California.[1]
Nemophila heterophylla occurs in a more restricted range
within northern and central California (with some proximate
state populations); N. heterophylla has the greatest number
of sightings Marin County at locations such as Ring
Mountain.[2]

Etymology
Nemophila means "woodland-loving". It comes from the
Latin word nemus, which means "grove" or "wooded glade",
and the Greek word philos, which means "loving".

Species
There are 11 species in Nemophila:

Nemophila aphylla: Smallflower baby blue eyes

Nemophila breviflora: Great Basin nemophila, Basin
nemophila
Nemophila heterophylla: Small baby blue eyes,
Nemophila kirtleyi: Kirtley's nemophila
 Nemophila maculata: Fivespot, five-spot
Nemophila menziesii: Baby blue eyes
Nemophila parviflora: Smallflower nemophila, small-
flowered nemophila
Nemophila pedunculata: Littlefoot nemophila, meadow
nemophila
Nemophila phacelioides: Largeflower baby blue eyes
Nemophila pulchella: Eastwood's nemophila,
Eastwood's baby blue eyes
Nemophila spatulata: Sierra nemophila, Sierra baby blue
eyes

N. menziesii, N. parviflora, and N. pulchella have varieties

under each species.

References
1. Calflora, Nemophila menziesii
2. C. Michael Hogan (2008) Ring Mountain, The
Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham [1]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nemophila.

Jepson Flora Project (1993): Nemophila

Calflora
 Wikidata: Q2738306
Wikispecies: Nemophila
EoL: 70939
EPPO: 1NMPG
GBIF: 2928024
GRIN: 8047
iNaturalist: 50651
IPNI: 331800-2
IRMNG: 1336732
Taxon ITIS: 31421
identifiers NBN: NHMSYS0000460951
NCBI: 79375
NZOR: 58140370-1f09-401f-8c17-
a85ebfb566a3
PLANTS: NEMOP
POWO: urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:19777-1
Tropicos: 40026238
VASCAN: 1457
WFO: wfo-4000025571