Baby Blue Eyes (Nemophila menziesii)
Family: Waterleaf (Hydrophyllaceae)
Habitat: Grassy areas in the foothills; rarely seen much above 4,000 feet (1,200 meters) elevation. You can find it most years in the Wawona Meadow area.
Flowering Season: February - June. Baby Blue Eyes is one of the earliest blooming wildflowers in the foothills.
Lifespan: Annual
Origins: Native (see distribution maps for California and US/Canada)
Size: Ground-hugging plants with flowers up to an inch across, often growing in bunches and turning great patches of hillside sky blue.
Nemophila menziesii etymology: Nemophila means "woodland-loving;" it derives from the Latin nemos (a grove or wooded pasture) and Greek philos (loving). Menziesii is homage to Archibald Menzies (1754 - 1842), a Scottish naturalist & physician who joined a fur-trading sea voyage in 1786 and returned three years later with several new varieties of plants. [1]
This Photo: Along the south shore of Bass Lake, late April.
Other Resources: CalFlora · CalPhotos · USDA
