Annual rough-hairy herb to over 50 cm tall. Leaves pinnately compound or deeply dissected, to 10 cm or more long, 5 cm wide. Leaflets lobed or toothed. Flower clusters dense, coiled and 1-sided, to 8 cm long. Flowers with linear, bristly calyx lobes. Corolla about 8 mm long, blue; spring. Stamens protruding. Fruit capsule ovoid, about 4 mm long, mostly with 2 seeds.

California to Mexico

Cultivated as bee fodder in Europe and promoted as a honey plant, but naturalised in NSW.

Source: Spencer, R. (2002). Hydrophyllaceae. In: Spencer, R.. Horticultural Flora of South-eastern Australia. Volume 4. Flowering plants. Dicotyledons. Part 3. The identification of garden and cultivated plants. University of New South Wales Press.