Velvet Five-eyes (Chamaesaracha sordida)

Family Solanaceae

A member of the Nightshade Family (Solanaceae), "Velvet Five-eyes" is so called because its pale yellowish flower (at left) has five spreading lobes with eye-like markings at the base of each lobe. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Five yellow-to-greenish bands radiate out from the center. The leaves are "dull green, glandular, very sticky, and hairy; lance-shaped to oblong, often pinnately cleft or toothed, with wavy margins" (Epple 1995, cited on main Flower page, pp. 218-19). The plant emerges after spring or summer rains, at elevations from 3,000 to 5,500 feet.

As the banner photo above shows, the plant hugs the ground and grows thickly. The plant we photographed here, in September 2006, was being visited by a solitary bee -- see this link for more images.