Little-foot Nemophila, Meadow Baby-blue-eyes, Meadow Nemophila, Spreading Nemophila: Nemophila pedunculata (Synonym: Viticella pedunculata)

Meadow nemophila is a small, easy to miss wildflower with prostrate or procumbent stems up to 30 cm long. The stems are simple or branched, usually mostly hairless. The leaves are opposite with with short hairs lining the the margins of the winged petioles. The blades are deeply pinnatifid and range from 6-25 mm long and 5-17 mm wide. Their are 2-3 pairs of rounded lateral lobes.

The calyx lobes are 1.5-4 mm long. The flowers are bell-shaped and 2-6 mm wide. The petals are pale lavender, or white marked with lavender.

Meadow nemophila may be found in moist, open places, including meadows and bottom lands.

Meadow nemophila may be found from southern Vancouver Island south through western Washington and throughout Oregon and California to parts of Baja California, and east to southern Idaho and Nevada.

In the Columbia River Gorge, it may be found between the elevations of 100'-2200' from near Bingen, WA east to near Horsethief Lake State Park.

Additional views of meadow nemophila as seen on moist grassy slopes in the Labyrinth, mid-Columbia River Gorge...........April 15, 2010.

Close-ups of the calyx and developing fruit plus a stem leaf of meadow nemophila as seen in upper Swale Canyon, Klickitat Canyon..........May 8, 2010. Note the long auricles (projections which are reflexed backwards between the calyx lobes) which are at least one-half the length of the calyx lobes. Note also the slender lobes on the leaf.

The photo at left shows a basal rosette of leaves of meadow nemophila on the south-facing slopes of Sevenmile Hill........February 13, 2015. The photo at center shows meadow nemophila blooming in vernally moist wetlands at the Four Sisters (Columbia Land Trust) near The Dalles, Oregon..........March 28, 2013. The photo at right shows shows meadow nemophila blooming a mile north on the south-facing slopes of Sevenmile Hill........March 8, 2015.

Meadow nemophila as seen (left) in moist prairie along the Memaloose Trail about one-quarter mile south of Old Highway 30 and one-half mile east of Marsh Cutoff Road, Columbia River Gorge..........February 7, 2016. The photo at right shows meadow nemophila near the same location along the Memaloose Trail..........March 2, 2016.

Meadow nemophila blooming at left in vernally moist swales along the eastern part of the loop of the Memaloose Trail about a quarter mile west of Dell Road, Wasco County, Oregon..........March 16, 2016. The photo at right shows meadow nemophila blooming at the same location but on April 21, 2017.

Seedlings of meadow nemophila observed along the Weldon Wagon Trail east of Husum, WA......January 9, 2021. The paired, oval-shaped seed leaves (cotyledons) are easily seen in both photos.

Seedlings of meadow nemophila sprouting at left in swales on USFS lands on the south side of Sevenmile Hill, Wasco County.......February 21, 2020. The photo at right shows meadow nemophila in bloom on USFS lands along Rowena Creek south of old Highway 30, Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area......April 13, 2023.

Meadow nemophila blooming at left in vernally moist swales along the Memaloose Trail east of Mosier, OR......February 10, 2018. Meadow nemophila blooming in rocky meadows between Dell Road and Memaloose, eastern Columbia River Gorge......March 26, 2019.

A young meadow nemophila and a young springbeauty (either Claytonia parviflora or Claytonia perfoliata) growing on heavily burned soil from a July 2023 fire on the slopes east of the Deschutes River in the Deschutes River State Recreation Area. This particular site is about 150 meters southwest of Ferry Springs along the Ferry Springs Trail.....November 21, 2023.