Phacelia cicutaria
species of plant
Phacelia cicutaria, with the common names caterpillar phacelia or caterpillar scorpionweed, is an annual species of Phacelia.
It is native to California, southern Nevada, and Baja California. It grows mainly in chaparral habitats, frequently in burnt areas or on rocky slopes.
Description
Phacelia cicutaria is an upright annual shrub growing up to 0.6 m (2') high. Its foliage is deeply lobed, 2–15 cm (1-6") long, with spiked segments.
The flower buds are held in tight, hairy coils which uncoil as the flowers open one by one. The flowering stems' resemblance of caterpillars lends this plant its common name. Flowers appear between March and May and are dirty-white to pale lavender in color.
Cultivation
Phacelia cicutaria is cultivated as an ornamental plant, in native plant and wildlife gardens, and for natural landscaping designs and habitat restoration projects. Its drought tolerance makes it well suited for water conserving gardens.
The public source identifies “Phacelia cicutaria” as species of plant. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Phacelia, cicutaria and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 24, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7179873. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Phacelia cicutaria” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.