Eriastrum signatum
Spotted woolly-star
Family: Polemoniaceae · Type: annual · Native
Spotted woolly-star is a California native annual found in the Shasta Valley, southern Sierra Nevada Foothills, Sierra Nevada, Transverse Ranges, and eastern Sierra Nevada in grassland, desert scrub, chaparral, and woodland habitats at elevations of 915 to 2,340 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces distinctive flowers with white or slightly purplish tubes and blue to lavender or light pink to white petals, often featuring a dark maroon-colored irregular spot near the base. Growing 2 to 45 centimeters tall with simple or branching stems that are woolly when young and becoming less hairy with age, it develops delicate foliage with leaves 7 to 34 millimeters long. Its leaves are woolly, entire to 3-lobed, with linear-shaped lobes that become less hairy over time. The plant produces small capsules about 6 millimeters long, containing 1 to 3 light gray-brown seeds that become slimy when wet.
Habitat: Hillsides, flats, benches above washes, dry washes, ditches, disturbed areas; in grassland, desert scrub, chaparral, arid woodland, mixed forest
Bloom period: May-Aug
Elevation: 915-2340(2500) m
Bioregions: CaRH (Shasta Valley), s SNF, SNH, TR, SNE (exc W&I), MP
California counties: San Bernardino, Ventura, Kern, Mono, Los Angeles, Lassen, Plumas, Inyo, Tulare, Shasta, Siskiyou, Modoc, Alpine, El Dorado, Sierra, Nevada, 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.