Eriastrum densifolium subsp. austromontanum

Mountain woolly-star

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Mountain woolly-star is a California native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada, southern California, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges in forest openings, hillsides, and disturbed sites at elevations of 950 to 2,300 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces white to pale blue or lavender flowers with deep blue lobes, often with pale yellow bases, in clusters typically containing up to 20 blossoms. Growing 10 to 30 centimeters tall with generally branched stems that are erect or spreading, it forms a compact subshrub with short axillary branches. Its leaves are green, soft, and feature 7 to 13 delicate lobes measuring 15 to 35 millimeters long, giving the plant a light, feathery appearance. The fruit is a small capsule containing one to five seeds, each 2 to 2.9 millimeters long and light gray-brown in color.

Habitat: Hillsides, knolls, openings in forest, floodplains above creeks, disturbed sites, often in forest or woodland, also chaparral, scrub, or grassland

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 950-2300 m

Bioregions: s SN, SCo, TR, PR.

California counties: Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Kern, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Inyo, Madera, Tulare, Monterey, Siskiyou, Orange, San Luis Obispo

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.