Family: Boraginaceae
Origin, Description & Uses
Nemophila maculata, commonly known as fivespot, is a delicate annual wildflower native to parts of Oregon and California. It is admired for its charming white flowers marked with distinctive deep purple spots at the tips of each petal, giving the blooms a “five-spotted” appearance. This low-growing plant thrives in cool-season gardens, meadows, and wildflower plantings, where it adds color and attracts pollinators such as bees and butterflies. Fivespot is commonly used in ornamental borders, cottage gardens, and native or drought-tolerant landscape mixes because of its easy care and attractive spring display.
Risks & Threats
Fivespot is considered a low risk species for Hawaii. It is not known to spread aggressively or invade natural ecosystems, and it generally depends on disturbed or cultivated habitats to persist. As an annual plant, it is relatively easy to manage and does not typically form dense, long-lasting populations. While any introduced species should be monitored when grown outside its native range, current evidence suggests that fivespot poses little threat to tropical island ecosystems when responsibly cultivated.
High Risk Traits:
- Elevation range exceeds 1000 m, and can grow in >5 hardiness zones demonstrating environmental versatility
- Listed as a cultivation escape
- Tolerates many soil types
- Shade-tolerant
- Seeds dispersed by ants, water and intentionally by people
- Able to reach maturity in <1 year (annual)
- Seeds may possess dormancy and may form a persistent seed bank
Low Risk Traits:
- No documented negative impacts to date
- If able to naturalize, may only pose a threat to higher elevation areas in the tropics
- Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
- No reports of toxicity or allergens
- Beneficial to bees and other pollinators
- Ornamental
- Not known to form dense stands
- Not known to hybridize with other Nemophila species
- Not reported to spread vegetatively
- Does not resprout or tolerate fire
