Baby blue eyes Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Baby blue eyes

Scientific classification
Genus:	Nemophila
Species:	menziesii

Nemophila menziesii, often called baby blue eyes or baby's-blue-eyes, is a beautiful wild flower. It's an annual herb, meaning it grows from a seed, flowers, produces seeds, and then dies all in one year. This lovely plant is native to western North America.

Where Baby Blue Eyes Grow
What Baby Blue Eyes Look Like
- Different Types of Baby Blue Eyes
Growing Baby Blue Eyes
Gallery
See also

Where Baby Blue Eyes Grow

This plant naturally grows in California, Baja California (a part of Mexico), and Oregon. You can find it almost everywhere in California, from sea level up to about 6,500 feet (nearly 2,000 meters) high in the mountains! It likes many different places, including chaparral (shrublands), grassy valleys, and mountain areas.

What Baby Blue Eyes Look Like

Baby blue eyes flowers can look a bit different depending on where they grow. The lower leaves have stalks and are shaped like lobes, arranged opposite each other. They are about 10 to 50 millimeters long and have five to thirteen small sections, some with tiny teeth. The upper leaves are usually closer to the stem and have fewer lobes.

The flower stalks are about 20 to 60 millimeters long. The parts that protect the bud, called calyx lobes, are about 4 to 8 millimeters long. The flowers themselves are usually blue with a white center, or sometimes they are all white. They often have blue veins and black dots near the middle. Each flower is about 6 to 40 millimeters wide.

Different Types of Baby Blue Eyes

There are three main types, or varieties, of Nemophila menziesii:

Nemophila menziesii var. atomaria has white flowers with black dots. They might have a light blue color or blue veins. You can find this type on coastal cliffs or grassy slopes in Oregon, northern California, and the San Francisco Bay Area.
Nemophila menziesii var. integrifolia has blue flowers with black dots in the center and deep blue veins. This variety grows in grasslands, canyons, woodlands, and on slopes. It is found in central and southern California, east of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and even into the Mojave desert and Baja California.
Nemophila menziesii var. menziesii has bright blue flowers with white centers. These centers usually have black dots. This type is found almost everywhere in California, in meadows, grasslands, chaparral, woodlands, and desert areas. However, it doesn't grow above 5,200 feet (1,600 meters).

Growing Baby Blue Eyes

People also grow baby blue eyes in their gardens because it's a beautiful ornamental plant. It's popular in native plant gardens, which use plants that naturally grow in the area. It's also great for water conserving gardens, as it doesn't need a lot of water. Many people plant it in traditional gardens and wildlife gardens to attract animals.

Sometimes, you might find this plant growing in places where it's not native, like in Alaska. This happens when seeds are carried there, perhaps by people or animals.