Family: Boraginaceae

This is a cool season annual that gets only about a foot tall and wide. Delicate, showy, bell-shaped flowers grow in clusters at the tips of its branches. Each of the five petals are white, with a bluish to purple spot at the tip. Leaves are lobed and opposite.

Plant from seed or plant from October and through the cool season until about March. Part sun is best though plants can take shade better than many other wildflowers. Keep soil moist. Plants will bloom in spring and continue until it gets too hot or if soil dries out. Plants will reseed and re-emerge in the following fall in cool, moist locations.

This species is a great nectar source for early arriving pollinators. It is a larval host for many moths, and for the funereal duskywing butterfly (Erynnis funeralis).

Genus name comes from the Greek words nemos meaning wooded pasture or glade and phileo meaning to love in reference to the habitat of some species. Specific epithet comes from the Latin word maculosus (spotted) in reference to the purple petal spots.

The wildflower is found on slopes in elevations between nearly sea level–3200 ft. in elevation. The plant is endemic to California. It is most common in the Sierra Nevada, Sacramento Valley, and the California Coast Ranges in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is found in several plant communities, including valley grassland, foothill woodland, and pine and fir forest.

Nemophila maculata on iNaturalist

Photo by Dreammoose on Wikipedia