Its status is uncertain, as most of its recorded occurrences are in areas that have since been disturbed or degraded in this highly developed coastal region.

[3] The plant is a current candidate for federal protection as a threatened or endangered species in the United States.

Phacelia stellaris is an annual herb producing a spreading, branching stem up to about 25 centimeters long and lightly hairy in texture.

The leaves are lance-shaped to oval with lobed edges, sometimes divided into smaller leaflets.

The hairy inflorescence is a one-sided curving or coiling cyme of bell-shaped flowers, each roughly half a centimeter long.