Nemophila
(from nemos, a grove, and phileo, to love; alluding to the place of growth of the species). ORD. Hydrophyllaceae. A genus comprising seven or eight species of hardy, diffuse, annual herbs, indigenous to North America. Flowers blue, white or spotted, showy or small, terminal or opposite the leaves, on elongated, one-flowered peduncles, rarely shortly pedicellate, disposed in terminal few-flowered cymes; corolla broadly campanulate or sub-rotate; lobes five, broad, imbricated. Leaves alternate or opposite, pinnately lobed or dissected. The several species and varieties are of the easiest culture in any moderately good garden soil, and are admirably adapted for rockeries, borders, and beds. For a spring show, seeds should be sown early in August, where the plants are intended to flower; and, for summer display, any time during April.
N. atomaria (speckled). A synonym of N. Menziesii.
N. aurita (ear-leaved). fl. purple-violet, nearly 1in. in diameter. June. l. pinnate, hairy, produced at the base in two lateral ear-like lobes, which embrace the stem. h. 1 1/2ft. 1831. (B. R. 1601; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 338.) N. insignis (remarkable).* fl. sky-blue, with a white eye, more than 1in. in diameter; peduncles longer than the leaves. Spring and summer. l. with three or four lobes on each side, quite entire, or cut. h. 1 1/2ft. 1822. (B. M. 3485; B. R. 1713; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 329.) The prettiest and best species, of which there are several varieties, including alba, white; marginata, blue, with a white edge; and purpurca rosea, purplish-rose. N. maculata (spotted).* fl. white, with a violet-purple blotch on each lobe of the large corolla. Summer. l. very hairy, pinnatifid, with rounded, acute, or obtuse lobes. h. 6in. 1848. (F. d. S. 431.) N. Menziesii (Menzies').* fl. white to light blue, commonly with dark dots or spots; peduncles axillary, elongated; corolla rotate, with a very pilose bottom. Summer. l. opposite, pinnatifid; lobes five to nine, almost entire. h. 4in. 1836. (B. M. 3774; B. R. 1940; S. B. F. G. ser. ii. 376, under name of N. atomaria.) There are a few pretty varieties of this species, such as alba, white and black centre; caelestis, with sky-blue margin; and oculata, pale blue and black centre. N. discoidalis is a garden variety of this species, having rather smaller purple-brown flowers, edged with white. N. phacelioides (Phacelia-like). fl. blue, with a white eye. Summer. l. more or less pinnatifid, broadest in the middle, and narrowed into a short petiole at the base. h. 1ft. 1822. (B. M. 2373; B. R. 740; S. B. F. G. 32.)