Spermatophytes (seed plants): Angiosperms (flowering plants): Eudicots: Core Eudicots: Asterids: Lamiids: Boraginales
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phacelia purshii
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
Go to FSUS key
Dig deeper at SERNEC, a consortium of southeastern herbaria.
Phacelia purshii (the species as a whole) grows erect or sprawling, to about 1' tall. At branch ends are small clusters of cymes, each flower ~ 1/2" across. Petals are fringed and lilac to lavender to pink with white at the base (so that the open flower is white in the middle). Thus, reasonably different from P. fimbriata, even if both grow on the same forested slope, separated by its taller size, longer leaves with more deeply toothed look, and flowers that are lavender or lilac in color. To distinguish from the recently recognized P. purshii var. boykinii, see "Evaluation of the taxonomy of Phacelia purshii (Hydrophyllaceae)" by Levy (2021). Read more at Vascular Plants of North Carolina.
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phacelia purshii
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US (Weakley et al., 2025)
Phacelia purshii var. boykinii
INCLUDING Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US (Weakley et al., 2025)
Phacelia purshii var. purshii
SYNONYMOUS WITH Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phacelia purshii
SYNONYMOUS WITH VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-05-005:
Phacelia purshii FAMILY Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia bicknellii
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia boykinii
INCLUDING Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia purshii
COMMON NAME:
Miami-mist
To see larger pictures, click or hover over the thumbnails.
)
USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown. 1913 pnd_phpu3_001_lvd
)
JK Marlow jkm170415_677
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1571
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Flowers similar to P. fimbriata, but pale blue and less deeply fringed, per Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998).
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1574
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Upper leaves sessile, clasping, pinnately lobed; lower stalked, oft compound, per Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005).
)
JK Marlow jkm180427_1582
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Inflorescence a helicoid cyme (cincinnus), per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
)
Sam Pratt sbp_20140418_110837
April Sevier County TN
Great Smoky Mountains National Park
Inflorescence has 10-30 cup-shaped, pale lavender flowers w a white center, per Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005).
)
Dan Whitten sdw042412_dsc01323c
April Blount County TN
Calyx lobes linear or weakly spatulate, hispid, per Vascular Flora of the Carolinas (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968).
WEAKLEY'S FLORA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN US (4/24/22):
Phacelia purshii
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
SYNONYMOUS WITH
PLANTS NATIONAL DATABASE:
Phacelia purshii
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING
Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US (Weakley et al., 2025)
Phacelia purshii var. boykinii
INCLUDING
Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US (Weakley et al., 2025)
Phacelia purshii var. purshii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
Floristic Synthesis of North America. BONAP (Kartesz, 2021)
Phacelia purshii
SYNONYMOUS WITH
VASCULAR FLORA OF THE CAROLINAS (Radford, Ahles, & Bell, 1968) 160-05-005:
Phacelia purshii
FAMILY
Hydrophyllaceae
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia bicknellii
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia boykinii
INCLUDING
Manual of the Southeastern Flora (Small, 1933, 1938)
Phacelia purshii
2851
Forb
Annual
Habitat: Moist forests on floodplains and slopes, per Weakley's Flora
Native to the Carolinas & Georgia
Rare
CLICK HERE to see a map, notes, and images from Weakley's Flora of the Southeastern US.
LEAVES:
Simple: pinnately lobed or cleft
Basal & alternate
FLOWER:
Spring/Summer
Pale blue
(with cream center)
Radially symmetrical
5-merous
5-parted calyx
5-lobed campanulate-rotate corolla
5 weakly exserted stamens, fused to corolla
Superior ovary
Bisexual
Inflorescence a helicoid cyme
FRUIT:
Spring/Summer
Capsule
TO LEARN MORE about this plant, look it up in a good book!
- Wildflowers of the Eastern United States (Duncan & Duncan, 1999) p076
- Wild Flowers of NC, 2nd edition (Justice, Bell, & Lindsey, 2005) p211
- Field Guide to the Wildflowers of Georgia (Chafin, 2016) p223
- Wildflowers of Tennessee (Carman, 2005) p209
- Wildflowers of Tennessee, the Ohio Valley, and the Southern Appalachians (Horn, Cathcart, Hemmerly, & Duhl, 2005) p247
- Wildflowers of the Southern Mountains (Smith, 1998) p135
If a search such as "Carex leptalea var. leptalea" doesn't deliver the results you want, try "Carex leptalea".
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