its distribution extends north along the coast just into southwestern Oregon.

Phacelia malvifolia is an annual herb growing mostly erect to a maximum height near one meter.

It is coated in stiff, yellowish, glandular hairs with bulbous bases which produce a stinging reaction when touched.

The rough-haired leaves are up to 14 centimeters long, the blades of the longer ones divided into usually three lobed leaflets.

The hairy to bristly inflorescence is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers.