Phacelia

Phacelia
Phacelia tanacetifolia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Boraginales
Family: Hydrophyllaceae
Genus: Phacelia
Juss. (1789)
Type species
Phacelia secunda
Diversity
About 200 species
Synonyms
  • Aldea Ruiz & Pav. (1794)
  • Cosmanthus Nolte ex A.DC. (1845)
  • Endiplus Raf. (1818)
  • Eutoca R.Br. (1823)
  • Heteryta Raf. (1808)
  • Howellanthus (Constance) Walden & R.Patt. (2010)
  • Microgenetes A.DC. (1845)
  • Miltitzia A.DC. (1845)
  • Whitlavia Harv. (1846)

Phacelia (phacelia, scorpionweed, heliotrope) is a genus of about 200 species of annual or perennial herbaceous plants in the family Hydrophyllaceae, native to North and South America. California is particularly rich in species with over 90 recorded in the region.

The genus includes both annual and perennial species. Many have been cultivated as garden and honey plants.

The mining bee Andrena phaceliae is a specialist pollinator of this genus in the Eastern United States.