WILD CANTERBURY-BELL.
Phacelia Whitlavia, Gray. Baby-eyes or Waterleaf Family.
A foot or so high; very hairy and glandular. Leaves.—Alternate; petioled; ovate or deltoid; toothed; twelve to eighteen lines long. Flowers.—Purple. Calyx.—Five-parted. Corolla.—An inch or more long. Stamens.—Five; on the base of the corolla; appendaged at base; long-exserted, with the two-cleft style. Ovary.—Two-celled. Syn.—Whitlavia grandiflora, Harv. Hab.—From Los Angeles to San Bernardino.
The wild Canterbury-bell is one of the most charming flowers to be found anywhere. It affects the rich soil of half-shaded hill-slopes in the vicinity of streams, where it opens its beautiful fragile bells. Its stems are very brittle, and the blossoms fall early, the lower ones usually having passed away before the upper buds have emerged from the coil. The exceedingly long stamens and style give these blossoms an elegant, airy look.
P. Parryi, Torr., is another beautiful species, found from Los Angeles to San Diego. It resembles the above in foliage, color of blossoms, and the long stamens; but the form of the flowers is that of the Nemophila.