Numerous purple flowers, each ¼ inch in diameter, crowd at and near the top of an erect hairy stem, making a cylindrical flower spike 3 inches or more in length. The 5 stamens of each flower are tipped with bright golden anthers and stick out farther than the petals, giving the effect of gold-headed pins radiating from a purple cushion. Plant is 6 to 12 inches tall of several leafy stems from a woody crown, the leaves divided into numerous narrow lobes. Grows in rather dry soil, montane to sub-alpine zones. Blooms May-July.

Many other species of Phacelia live in desert places where we have learned to know and admire them, but our first acquaintance—and last love—is this purple fringe of the montane zone. Its color is deeper, more velvety, and the pollen of its anthers brighter gold than most of its desert brethren can boast. It keeps, however, considerable tolerance for dry places, so that fresh road-fills are gay with it. The mountaineer who views his flowers only from a car has no excuse for not knowing this one.