General: Biennial or short-lived perennial herb from a taproot; stems single to few, spreading long-hairy on lower part, appressed, upswept, straight-hairy above, 0.3-1 m tall.
Leaves: Basal leaves sometimes persistent but usually smaller than stem leaves and soon withering, oblanceolate, stalked; stem leaves ample, 4-20 cm long and 5-30 mm wide, the lower oblanceolate and stalked, the upper more lanceolate or lance-elliptic and unstalked, reduced upward, appressed straight-hairy or coarsely stiff-hairy, entire, alternate.
Flowers: Inflorescence of several narrow, elongating, many-flowered clusters with leafy bracts at the base; petals blue, fused at base into a short,narrow tube that spreads (4-8 mm wide) at top to 5 lobes, with 5 minutely pimply, yellow bulges at the throat.
Fruits: Nutlets 4, clustered together, 2-4 mm long, with marginal, barb-tipped prickles mostly free (but sometimes fused) to near base, facial prickles 0-3.
3. Nutlets with marginal prickles only.......................................H. floribunda
3. Nutlets with central (facial) prickles in addtion to marginal ones.
4. Marginal prickles united for at least 1/3 their length, forming a cup..........................H. ciliata
4. Marginal prickles mostly distinct to base, not forming a cup................................H. micrantha
Source: Illustrated Flora of British Columbia (Douglas et al.)
Habitat / Range
Moist to mesic rocky slopes, grasslands and shrublands in the lowland and steppe zones; frequent in S BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains; E to W ON and S to CA and NM.
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range. (Updated August, 2013)
