Eriastrum densifolium subsp. mohavense

Mojave woolly-star

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Mojave woolly-star is a California native perennial found in the southern eastern desert and western Mojave Desert regions in desert scrub habitats on floodplains, washes, and open slopes at elevations of 700 to 1,100 meters. Flowering in June, this plant produces white to pale blue or purplish flowers with pale blue or pale lavender lobes arranged in densely woolly heads. Growing 8 to 30 centimeters tall with erect to ascending branches and woody stems that have flaking outer layers, it forms a distinctive white-woolly plant. Its rigid leaves are 10 to 32 millimeters long, white-woolly to gray-green, with primary axes 2 to 3.5 millimeters wide and often featuring 5 to 9 spine-tipped lobes. The fruits are small capsules approximately 2.5 to 4 millimeters long, containing tan elliptic seeds.

Habitat: Floodplains, washes, open slopes, in desert scrub

Bloom period: Jun

Elevation: 700-1100 m

Bioregions: SNE, w DMoj.

California counties: Kern, San Bernardino, Riverside, Los Angeles, Inyo, Santa Barbara

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