Eriastrum pluriflorum subsp. pluriflorum
Many-flowered woolly-star, many-flowered eriastrum
Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native
Many-flowered woolly-star is a California native annual herb found in central Sierra Nevada Foothills, southern Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, San Francisco Bay Area, eastern South Coast Ranges, and Western Transverse Ranges in open hillsides, chaparral, grassland, and woodland at elevations of 100 to 1,830 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to purple flowers with blue to lavender lobes, creating delicate salverform blossoms 12.8 to 20 millimeters long. Growing 2 to 40 centimeters tall with erect stems that are woolly and sometimes branched above the base, it develops a distinctive appearance. Its leaves are 9 to 30 millimeters long, covered in wool-like hair and featuring 3 to 11 thread-like lobes that give the plant a feathery texture. The fruit is a small capsule 4 to 5 millimeters long, containing tan seeds that are sometimes angular in shape.
Habitat: Open hillsides or gentle slopes, disturbed areas, chaparral, grassland, woodland, mixed forest
Bloom period: May-Jul
Elevation: 100-1830 m
Bioregions: c&s SNF, s SNH, SnJV, SnFrB, e SCoR, WTR.
California counties: Fresno, Kern, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, Kings, San Bernardino, Los Angeles, Madera, Contra Costa, Stanislaus
Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.