Eriastrum harwoodii

Harwood's woolly-star

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Harwood's woolly-star is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native annual found in the Mojave Desert and northern Colorado Desert in semi-stabilized dunes, sand ramps, and sandy hummocks at edges of dry lake beds at elevations of 130 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white to pale yellow flowers with yellow throats in small heads, each bloom narrowly funnel-shaped and approximately 6 to 8 millimeters long. Growing with delicate erect stems up to 20 centimeters tall that are initially woolly and become more smooth with age, it has a distinctive appearance. Its leaves are thread-like to linear, 5 to 35 millimeters long, yellow-green to gray-green, and densely woolly, sometimes with 3 to 5 lobes near the base. The fruit is a tan capsule about 3.6 to 4.7 millimeters long, typically containing 2 to 3 light gray-brown seeds.

Habitat: Semi-stabilized dunes, sand ramps, sandy hummocks at edges of dry lake beds, desert scrub

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 130-1600 m

Bioregions: DMoj, n DSon.

California counties: San Bernardino, Riverside, San Diego

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