Hydrophyllum occidentale
Hydrophyllum occidentale is a species of flowering plant in the waterleaf family known by the common name western waterleaf.
| Hydrophyllum occidentale | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Asterids |
| Order: | Boraginales |
| Family: | Boraginaceae |
| Genus: | Hydrophyllum |
| Species: | H. occidentale |
| Binomial name | |
| Hydrophyllum occidentale | |
Distribution
It is native to the western United States from California to Idaho, where it grows in a variety of habitats from wet mountain meadows to dry chaparral slopes.
Description
This is a rhizomatous perennial herb producing a patch of leaves, most of which are made up of many pairs of oval-shaped, bluntly lobed green leaflets. These compound leaves may be up to 40 centimeters long. The plant produces erect stems branching into green to reddish-purple rough-haired, leafless peduncles bearing inflorescences.
The inflorescence is a large ball of densely packed flowers. Each flower is up to a centimeter wide and bright white to lavender. It is coated in downy white hairs and has a long protruding style and usually five stamens with large purple or red anthers. The fruit is a spherical capsule containing two seeds. The inflorescence of Hydrophyllum occidentale occurs above the leaf canopy.