Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Nemophila heterophylla is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common name small baby blue eyes. It is native to Oregon and California north of the Transverse Ranges. It grows in many types of habitat, from valley chaparral to mountain talus. Nemophila heterophylla is an annual herb with a fleshy but delicate and usually hairy stem. The lower leaves are oppositely arranged and divided into several wide lobes. Upper leaves are smaller, narrower, and alternately arranged. Flowers are solitary, each on a short pedicel. The flower has a calyx of sepals each a few millimeters long, pointed, and covered with long hairs, and there are reflexed appendages between the sepals. The bowl-shaped flower corolla is white or blue and a few millimeters to over a centimeter wide. The fruit is a capsule which develops within the calyx of sepals and contains a few yellowish seeds.

Plant type

Annual herb

Calscape icon
Color

White

Plant communities

Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Northern Oak Woodland, Yellow Pine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 5 likely

Confirmed Likely

Annaphila depicta

Alfalfa Looper Moth

Autographa californica

Funereal Duskywing

Erynnis funeralis

Stamnodes albiapicata