Boraginaceae

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Hydrophyllum tenuipes “Pacific Waterleaf” Hydrophyllaceae/Boraginaceae

Olympic National Park, WA
June 5, 2013
Robert Niese

While we’re on the topic of Hydrophyllaceaous plants, here’s another from the low, wet forests of the coastal PNW. Like most members of this pseudo-family, these flowers exhibit unmistakable exerted stamens. These plants are endemic to the PNW and can be found anywhere west of the Cascades, usually near rivers or streams. It’s also interesting to note, like the other Hydrophylls I’ve been posting lately, these plants produce flowers whose color varies from cream to deep violet. A quick google image search suggests that most individuals are white, but all the images I have collected personally are purple. Perhaps I tend to only encounter the purple varieties, but it seems far more likely that I simply prefer to photograph purple plants over white ones. It’s interesting that this unconscious bias may have influenced my perhaps unfounded perception of these populations being predominantly purple.

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Phacelia heterophylla “Varileaf Scorpionweed” Hydrophyllaceae/Boraginaceae

Mt. Sentinel, Lolo National Forest, MT
June 13, 2016
Robert Niese

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m not very familiar with members of the genus Phacelia, but this species perfectly exemplifies why they have received the common name, “scorpionweeds.” Those tightly coiled flower heads will progressively unravel until they’re long and straight (a very Boraginaceaous growth pattern). P. heterophylla is an abundant, weedy species in our area, and, unlike elsewhere in its range where their flowers are drab and white, here in Missoula ours tend to be deep lavender in color!

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Phacelia linearis “Thread-leaf Phacelia” Hydrophyllaceae/Boraginaceae

Mt. Sentinel, Lolo National Forest, MT
June 13, 2016
Robert Niese

I can’t say I’m particularly familiar with the genus Phacelia. In fact, I was quite stumped when I first photographed this flower on the trails behind the university. Turns out, Phacelia has perplexed botanists as well over the last few decades as well. Most members of this genus are called scorpionweeds (for obvious reasons which I’ll elucidate in my next post), but this particular species is definitely not recognizable as such. Its large, broadly campanulate flowers are not what I immediately associate with members of Hydrophyllaceae either. What’s more, the family Hydrophyllaceae is now accepted as a subfamily within Boraginaceae, and this plant absolutely does not remind me of forget-me-nots and bluebells. So in summary, the Thread-leaf Phacelia is an oddball in the world of Phacelias and the genus Phacelia is generally also odd as a member of Hydrophyllaceae which, oddly enough, has odd traits that do not conform to those that tend to be most common in the family Boraginaceae, to which it now belongs.

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Blue and violet wildflowers in-bloom in the first week of June

(from top-to-bottom, left-to-right: Penstemon sp., Mertensia longiflora,Delphinium bicolor, Lupinus sericeus, Viola adunca, Linum lewisii, Mertensia paniculata)

Lolo National Forest, MT
June 2014, 2015, 2016
Robert Niese

I finally have an instagram with loads of not-so-sciencey nature and personal content! Feel free to drop by and peak into the life of a nerdy natural historian!
www.instagram.com/robertniese/

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Myosotis latifolia “Broadleaf Forget-me-not” Boraginaceae

Mt. Tamalpais State Park, Marin County, CA
December 29, 2015
Robert Niese

This is not a species of Myosotis that we regularly encounter here in the PNW. It’s a common garden species, however, and some manage to occasionally escape cultivation. Coastal California is particularly rife with these escapees. They can be found in most moist, disturbed coastal habitats between Monterrey and Humboldt.

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Mertensia paniculata “Tall Bluebells” Boraginaceae

Great Burn, Lolo National Forest, MT
July 10, 2015
Robert Niese

These bluebells have distinctly bell-shaped corollas unlike many other species in our area. To be precise, their corolla “bells” are gently and roundly flared and are approximately 1.5 times longer than the “tube” section of the flower. They are also somewhat taller than other species in our area and are commonly found among other waist-high, meadow wildflowers.

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Myosotis stricta (micrantha) “Strict Forget-me-not” Boraginaceae

Missoula, MT
April 23, 2015
Robert Niese

There are several species of Myosotis in our region – four of which have flowers that are less than 5mm in diameter! Of these small-flowered species, M. verna tends to have white flowers, M. laxa has sepal hairs that are not hooked at the tip, and M. discolor produces flowers that are yellow at first, but turn purple with age. M. discolor and M. stricta tend to be our most common tiny, weedy, roadside inhabitants here in the PNW. The flowers on this particular specimen were only 2mm across!