Eriophyllum ambiguum var. paleaceum

Annual woolly sunflower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Annual woolly sunflower is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, southern Sierra Nevada, and desert regions in desert scrub or woodland at elevations of 100 to 2,800 meters. Flowering from January to June, this plant produces yellow flowers in small clusters with involucres 5 to 7 millimeters wide. Growing with delicate stems reaching up to 30 centimeters tall, it forms loose, open clusters of blossoms. Its leaves are distinctive, being either entire or occasionally having 3 lobes near the leaf tip, with a soft, woolly texture characteristic of sunflower relatives. The plant's receptacle occasionally features 1 to 6 small, chaff-like scales, adding subtle complexity to its floral structure.

Habitat: Desert scrub or woodland

Bloom period: Jan-Jun

Elevation: 100-2800 m

Bioregions: s SNF, Teh, SNE, D

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