Baby blue eyes

The Baby blue eyes, Nemophila menziesii, is a common wild flower of California, whose range extends into Oregon and Baja California. It is a spring-flowering annual which gets its name from the bright blue flowers of two of the three varieties that are recognised. It is also cultivated in gardens.

The baby blue eyes grows virtually throughout California, at heights from sea level up to almost 2000 metres. The three recognised varieties differ in their flower colours and distributions:

• Nemophila menziesii var. atomaria has white flowers with black dots on the petals, often with a faint blue tint or blue veins in the petals. it is found on coastal bluffs or grassy slopes in Oregon, Northwestern California, the Central Coast of California, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
• Nemophila menziesii var. integrifolia has blue flowers, with black dots at the centre and deep blue veins. It is found in grasslands, canyons, woodlands, and slopes in the Central Coast, southern Coast Ranges, southwestern California, east of the Sierra Nevada range, and into the Mojave Desert and Baja California
• Nemophila menziesii var. menziesii has bright blue flowers with white centres that are generally dotted with black. It is found virtually throughout California, in meadows, grasslands, chaparral, woodlands, slopes, and desert washes, but it does not occur above 1600m.

External link

Jepson Manual treatment of the species (click "next taxon" in this page to get treatments for each variety")