Mertensia longiflora
Small Bluebells

Family: Boraginaceae (Borage family)

Photo taken near Peshastin Pinnacles, open slope, moist in spring then drying

Flowers:

corolla tube glabrous inside, 15-25 mm long, 2 to 3 times longer than the limb; filaments conspicuous, 1.5 to 3 mm long

Leaves:

basal leaves rare on flowering plants; cauline leaves 1.5 to 4 times as long as wide, without conspicuous lateral veins, usually sessile

Plant:

less than 4 dm tall, usually 15 to 25 cm; glabrous to strigose; 1 to 2 stems per plant

Habitat:

plains and shrub steppe to open slopes and ridges, from foothills to middle elevations in the mountains

Distribution of species:

widespread east of the Cascades, British Columbia to northern California, east to Montana

Distribution of genus:

more or less 50 species: North America and temperate Eurasia