Eriastrum diffusum – Miniature Woollystar

Eriastrum diffusum - Miniature Woollystar, Miniature Woolstar, Miniature Wool Star

Eriastrum diffusum - Miniature Woollystar, Miniature Woolstar, Miniature Wool Star

Plant Name

Scientific Name: Eriastrum diffusum

Common Names: Miniature Woollystar, Miniature Woolstar, Miniature Wool Star

Plant Characteristics

Duration: Annual

Growth Habit: Herb/Forb

Arizona Native Status: Native

Habitat: Desert, Upland. This small wildflower grows in dry, sunny, open areas, usually in bare patches of sandy dirt and gravel.

Flower Color: Pale blue to lavender, White

Flowering Season: Spring

Height: To only 8 inches (20 cm) tall, but usually much less

Description: The flowers are clustered in woolly, spiky flower heads. The individual flowers are tubular, up to 1/2 inch (1.3 cm) long, and have 5 lobes, a white to yellow throat, and exserted stamens that are shorter than the length of the flower lobes. The leaves are dark green, shiny, and narrowly linear with sharply pointed tips and wool in the leaf axils.

The similar Desert Woollystar (Eriastrum eremicum) has much longer stamens with an exserted length equal to that of the flower lobes.

Classification

Kingdom: Plantae – Plants
Subkingdom: Tracheobionta – Vascular plants
Superdivision: Spermatophyta – Seed plants
Division: Magnoliophyta – Flowering plants
Class: Magnoliopsida – Dicotyledons
Subclass: Asteridae
Order: Solanales
Family: Polemoniaceae – Phlox family
Genus: Eriastrum Woot. & Standl. – woollystar
Species: Eriastrum diffusum (A. Gray) H. Mason – miniature woollystar

More About This Plant

Arizona County Distribution Map