All Topics  
Phacelia

 
Phacelia

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Phacelia
 
 
  Topics Phacelia Topic Home

Phacelia, the phacelias or scorpionweeds, is a large plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
. It contains about 200 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of herb
Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s, native of Western North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 (the most), Eastern USA and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
.

The genus is traditionally placed at family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 rank with the waterleaves (Hydrophyllaceae
Hydrophyllaceae

Hydrophylloideae is a subfamily of the Boraginaceae family of flowering plants. Their taxonomic position is somewhat uncertain. Traditionally, and under the Cronquist system, they were given family rank under the name Hydrophyllaceae, and treated as part of the order Solanales....
) in the order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 Boraginales
Boraginales

Boraginales is a valid taxonomic name at the rank of order for a group of flowering plants. When recognised, it is includes Boraginaceae and closely related asterid families....
. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
, recognizing that the traditional Boraginaceae and Hydrophyllaceae are paraphyletic with respect to each other merges the latter into the former and considers the family basal
Basal

Basal is a term with several scientific meanings:*A Basal is one which forms an outgroup to a larger clade. As such the term is relative.*Basal refers to a type of insulin dosing....
 in the Euasterids I clade
Clade

A clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article in the conventional sense of "an a...
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Phacelia'
Start a new discussion about 'Phacelia'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Phacelia, the phacelias or scorpionweeds, is a large plant
Plant

Plants are Life organisms belonging to the Kingdom Plantae. They include familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae....
 genus
Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
. It contains about 200 species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
 of herb
Herb

A herb is a plant that is valued for qualities such as medicinal properties, flavor, scent, or the like....
s, native of Western North America
North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
 (the most), Eastern USA and South America
South America

South America is the southern continent of the Americas, situated entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere....
.

The genus is traditionally placed at family
Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is a taxonomic rank. Exact details of formal nomenclature depend on the Nomenclature Codes which applies....
 rank with the waterleaves (Hydrophyllaceae
Hydrophyllaceae

Hydrophylloideae is a subfamily of the Boraginaceae family of flowering plants. Their taxonomic position is somewhat uncertain. Traditionally, and under the Cronquist system, they were given family rank under the name Hydrophyllaceae, and treated as part of the order Solanales....
) in the order
Order (biology)

In Biological classification used in biology, the order is a taxonomic rank between class and family . The superorder is a rank between class and order....
 Boraginales
Boraginales

Boraginales is a valid taxonomic name at the rank of order for a group of flowering plants. When recognised, it is includes Boraginaceae and closely related asterid families....
. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group

The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group, or APG, refers to two international groups of systematic botany who came together to try to establish a consensus view of the taxonomy of flowering plants that would reflect new knowledge in angiosperm relationships based upon molecular systematics studies....
, recognizing that the traditional Boraginaceae and Hydrophyllaceae are paraphyletic with respect to each other merges the latter into the former and considers the family basal
Basal

Basal is a term with several scientific meanings:*A Basal is one which forms an outgroup to a larger clade. As such the term is relative.*Basal refers to a type of insulin dosing....
 in the Euasterids I clade
Clade

A clade is a term used in modern alpha taxonomy, the scientific classification of living and fossil organisms, to describe a monophyletic group, defined as a group consisting of a single common ancestor and all its descendants.The term "monophyletic group" is used in this article in the conventional sense of "an a...
. Other botanists continue to recognize the Hydrophyllaceae and Boraginales, but to make them monophyletic the present genus be moved to the Boraginaceae.

Many species are cultivated as garden plants and for honey plant.

Contact with some species of Phacelia can cause a very unpleasant rash similar to that from poison oak
Poison oak

The name Poison oak can refer to either of two species of the genus Toxicodendron that grow in North America:* Toxicodendron diversilobum, Western Poison-oak, , found only on the Pacific Coast of North America, ranging from southern Canada to Baja California...
 and poison ivy
Poison ivy

Toxicodendron radicans is a plant in the family Anacardiaceae. The name is sometimes spelled "Poison-ivy" in an attempt to indicate that the plant is not a true Ivy ....
 in sensitive individuals. The major contact allergen of Phacelia crenulata
Phacelia crenulata

Phacelia crenulata , is a flowering plant in the family Hydrophyllaceae, native to the Mojave Desert of the southwestern United States.It is an annual plant growing 7-60 cm tall, with crenate to deeply lobed leaf 2-8 cm long, rarely 12 cm....
 has been identified as geranylhydroquinone
Hydroquinone

Hydroquinone, also benzene-1,4-diol or quinol, is an aromatic organic compound which is a type of Phenols, having the chemical formula C6H42....
.

Selected species

  • Phacelia bolanderi – Bolander's Phacelia
  • Phacelia calthifolia – Caltha-leaved Phacelia
  • Phacelia campanularia – California Bluebell
  • Phacelia cicutaria – Caterpillar Phacelia
  • Phacelia crenulata – Notch-leaved Phacelia
  • Phacelia fimbriata – Fringed Phacelia
  • Phacelia fremontii – Fremont Phacelia
  • Phacelia hastata– Silverleaf Phacelia
  • Phacelia minor – Whitlavia
    Whitlavia

    Whitlavia , is a species of desert plant in southern California, which is used like an ornamental plant.References...
  • Phacelia purshii – Miami Mist
  • Phacelia sericea
    Phacelia sericea

    Phacelia sericea is a showy Perennial plant species of Phacelia Endemism to western North America. Uncommon, it grows mainly at subalpine to Alpine climate elevations in forest openings or above treeline among rocks and sand....
     – Silky Phacelia


See also

  • List of Phacelia species
    List of Phacelia species

    List of Phacelia species. This plant genus is in the family Boraginaceae, basal in one of the 2 main euasterid lineages, as per Angiosperm Phylogeny Group....
  • Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains
    Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains

    More than 1400 species of Wildflowers are native to the Great Smoky Mountains. Every spring in late April Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the site of the week long annual spring wildflower pilgrimage to celebrate this diversity....


External links

  • (QuickTime required)