Kingdom Plantae Family Boraginaceae Scientific name Nemophila breviflora Rank Species | Order (unplaced) Genus Nemophila Higher classification Nemophila | |
Similar Nemophila, Nemophila spatulata, Nemophila heterophylla, Nemophila aphylla, Nemophila parviflora | ||
Nemophila breviflora is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names basin nemophila, Great Basin nemophila, and Great Basin baby-blue-eyes. It is native to southwestern Canada and the northwestern United States, where it generally grows in wooded and forested areas in thickets and moist streambanks.
It is an annual herb with a fleshy, somewhat prickly stem growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall. The alternately arranged leaves are divided into several wide, pointed lobes. Flowers are solitary, each on a short pedicel. The flower has a calyx of sepals each a few millimeters long, pointed, and edged with stiff hairs, and there are reflexed appendages between the sepals. The bell-shaped flower corolla is white or purple-tinged and a few millimeters wide. The fruit is a capsule which develops within the calyx of sepals and contains a single red, pitted seed.