Eriophyllum pringlei

Pringle's woolly sunflower, Pringle's Woolly Sunflower

Family: Asteraceae · Type: annual · Native

Pringle's woolly sunflower is a California native annual found in southern Sierra Nevada foothills, Tehachapi, southern Coastal Ranges, Transverse Ranges, southeastern Sierra Nevada, and desert regions in chaparral, sagebrush scrub, and woodland habitats at elevations of 300 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from February to July, this plant produces yellow disk flowers in small clusters without ray flowers. Growing as a tiny, tufted plant just 1 to 5 centimeters tall with a white-woolly appearance, it spreads in compact clusters across its habitat. Its leaves are small, wedge-shaped, typically 3 to 10 millimeters long with three distinct lobes, covered in dense white wool with margins rolled tightly underneath. The tiny fruit is 1.5 to 2 millimeters long and slightly hairy, reflecting this diminutive sunflower's delicate desert adaptation.

Habitat: Chaparral, sagebrush or desert scrub or woodland

Bloom period: Feb-Jul

Elevation: 300-2200 m

Bioregions: s SNF, Teh, s SCoRO, SCoRI, TR, 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.