Eriastrum sapphirinum

Sapphire woolly-star

Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native

Sapphire woolly-star is a California native annual found in rocky or open habitats at elevations of 300 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces delicate white to light purple or blue flowers with lavender and dark blue lobes, often marked with reddish or purple spots. Growing 10 to 54 centimeters tall with erect or spreading stems that are sticky with glandular hairs, it has distinctively complex leaves with 3 to 5 narrow linear lobes near the base. Its leaves range from 4 to 44 millimeters long, varying from glabrous to woolly in texture. The fruit is a small capsule 3 to 5 millimeters long, typically containing 1 to 4 seeds per chamber.

California counties: Los Angeles, Riverside, Orange, San Bernardino, Kern, San Diego, Ventura, Monterey, Merced, Inyo, Contra Costa, San Luis Obispo, 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.