Distribution: Occurring east of the Cascades crest in Washington; Washington to California, east to the Rocky Mountains.
Habitat: Stream banks, wet meadows, damp thickets, and wet cliffs, from the foothills to high elevations in the mountains.
Flowers: June-August
Origin: Native
Growth Duration: Perennial
Conservation Status: Not of concern
Pollination: Bumblebees, bees
Usually glabrous perennial from a branched, woody crown, the stems numerous, 1.5-15 dm. tall.
Leaves prominently veined; basal leaves, when present, long-petiolate, not at all cordate, the blade elliptic to lance-ovate; cauline leaves well-developed and gradually reduced upward, lance-elliptic to lance-ovate, 3-15 cm. long and 1-5 cm. wide, tapering to the base, the upper sessile.
Inflorescence cymose, branched and open; calyx 5-lobed, 1-3 mm. long, cleft nearly to the base, the lobes broadly rounded to nearly acute at the tip; corolla 10-17 mm. long, the limb about the same length as the tube; filaments broad, 1.5-3 mm. long; styles elongate, often exerted.
4 nutlets.
PNW Herbaria: Specimen records of Mertensia ciliata in the Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria database
WA Flora Checklist: Mertensia ciliata checklist entry
OregonFlora: Mertensia ciliata information
E-Flora BC: Mertensia ciliata atlas page
CalPhotos: Mertensia ciliata photos