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Phacelia tanacetifolia

Common name:	Fiddleneck	Family:	Hydrophyllaceae
Author:	Benth.	Botanical references:	71, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-western N. America in California. Often naturalized in Europe[50].
Habitat:	Open flats and slopes below 1200 metres[71].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	0	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	P. tanacetifolia subvar. tenuisecta[G]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Bee Food [H], Lacy Scorpion-weed [B], Lacy Scorpionweed [P], Phacelia [D],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Solanales. Waterleaf family

Physical Characteristics

Annual growing to 0.6m by 0.3m . It is not frost tender. It is in leaf from May to September, in flower from July to September, and the seeds ripen from August to September. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by Bees. It is noted for attracting wildlife. We rate it 0/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Cultivated Beds.

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Green manure.

Used as a green manure crop, but has not as yet (1980) been properly tested in Britain[87]. It is not very deep rooted.

Cultivation details

Succeeds in any moderately fertile well-drained soil in a sunny position[200]. Prefers a moist soil[108].
The flowers are a rich source of nectar and is occasionally grown commercially as a crop for bees[46, 50, 61].

Propagation

Seed - sow in situ in late spring or late summer. The plant often self-sows.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[H] Details of Scandanavian and European Common names in Henriette's names database
[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[C] Taxon data. from the CalFlora database.
Images from the CalPhoto database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for the family Hydrophyllaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[46] Uphof. J. C. Th. Dictionary of Economic Plants. Weinheim 1959
An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.

[50] ? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964
An immense work in 6 volumes (including the index). The standard reference flora for europe, it is very terse though and with very little extra information. Not for the casual reader.

[61] Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202
Forget the sexist title, this is one of the best books on the subject. Lists a very extensive range of useful plants from around the world with very brief details of the uses. Not for the casual reader.

[71] Munz. A California Flora. University of California Press 1959
An excellent flora but no pictures. Not for the casual reader.

[87] Woodward. L. Burge. P. Green Manures. Elm Farm Research Centre. 1982
Green manure crops for temperate areas. Quite a lot of information on a number of species.

[108] International Bee Research Association. Garden Plants Valuable to Bees. International Bee Research Association. 1981
The title says it all.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

Readers Comments

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Bibliography

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Phacelia+tanacetifolia
This page (US) http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Phacelia+tanacetifolia

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We make no claims of magical effects or supernatural powers for any item in this catalog. In spite of legendary attributes or occult and craft tradition, such items are offered as curios only and beliefs concerning their magical effectiveness are related only for historical interest.