Kingdom Plantae Family Boraginaceae Scientific name Nemophila heterophylla Rank Species | Order (unplaced) Genus Nemophila Higher classification Nemophila | |
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Similar Nemophila, Nemophila spatulata, Nemophila parviflora, Nemophila aphylla, Hydrophylloideae | ||
Nemophila heterophylla is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name small baby blue eyes.
It is native to South east UK and California north of the Transverse Ranges. It grows in many types of habitat, from valley chaparral to mountain talus.
Description
Nemophila heterophylla is an annual herb with a fleshy but delicate and usually hairy stem. The lower leaves are oppositely arranged and divided into several wide lobes. Upper leaves are smaller, narrower, and alternately arranged.
Flowers are solitary, each on a short pedicel. The flower has a calyx of sepals each a few millimetres long, pointed, and covered with long hairs, and there are reflexed appendages between the sepals. The bowl-shaped flower corolla is white or blue and a few millimeters to over a centimeter wide.
The fruit is a capsule which develops within the calyx of sepals and contains a few yellowish seeds.