Eriastrum is a genus of flowering plants in the phlox family which are known commonly as woollystars. These wildflowers are somewhat diverse in appearance but are usually erect, thin-stemmed herbs which bear purple to white blooms. Most species have inflorescences which are webbed with a woolly mesh of white fibers. Woollystars are native to western North America.
Eriastrum luteum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names yellow woollystar and yellow-flowered eriastrum. This wildflower is endemic to California where it is known only from Monterey and San Luis Obispo Counties. This is a small annual rarely reaching the maximum 25 centimeters in height. It has occasional thin, threadlike leaves which are covered in a coat of woolly hairs. The inflorescence is a cluster of leaflike green or reddish bracts strung densely with cobwebby white wool and bearing bright yellow flowers. Each flower has five rounded lobes and long, protruding stamens with large anthers.
Eriastrum pluriflorum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common names Tehachapi woollystar and many-flowered eriastrum.
Eriastrum sapphirinum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name sapphire woollystar. This wildflower is endemic to California where it is found in many habitats throughout the state. It is an annual reaching anywhere from 5 to 40 centimeters in height, forming clumps or singular spindly stems. The stem is erect and may be reddish to green, and has the occasional threadlike leaf with sparse hairs to a coat of dense wool. The inflorescences at the tips of the stems are packed with pointed, leaflike green to red bracts and funnel-shaped flowers. The corolla of the flower has five lobes each one half to one centimeter long and pale to bright blue. The throat of the flower is the same color or yellowish to white. At the mouth of the tube there may be dots of yellow and white. The light colored stamens protrude.
Ipomopsis congesta is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family, known by the common name ballhead ipomopsis. It is native to much of western North America, where it grows in many habitats from alpine peaks to low-elevation scrub. It is a perennial herb which varies in appearance, especially across subspecies and climates. It may take the form of a squat patch with stems under 10 centimeters in height or a more erect form up to 30 centimeters tall. The stems are often hairy to woolly. The thick leaves are usually fork-shaped with a number of clawlike lobes and 1 to 4 centimeters long. The flowers appear in a rounded, dense cluster atop the stem. Each flower is bell-shaped to funnel-shaped and white with a pale yellow throat and protruding yellow or white stamens. There are several subspecies, many of which were formerly considered species of Gilia.
Eriastrum abramsii is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Abrams' woollystar. The epithet abramsii commemorates LeRoy Abrams. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the hills of the Coast Ranges in and around the San Francisco Bay Area. It is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 15 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into several narrow, threadlike linear lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers have yellow throats and white or blue corolla lobes.
Eriastrum brandegeeae is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Brandegee's woollystar. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the chaparral and woodlands of the North Coast Ranges, generally on volcanic soils. There have been specimens collected from the San Francisco Bay Area which are closer to this species than other Eriastrum, but may actually be a new species. This is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are divided into several narrow, threadlike linear lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers have white to light blue corollas.
Eriastrum diffusum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name miniature woollystar. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, where it grows in many types of open habitat. This is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 20 centimeters long, growing erect or spreading outward. The leaves are divided into 2 to 4 narrow, threadlike linear lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers are funnel-shaped, with yellowish throats and white to pale blue corollas.
Eriastrum hooveri is a rare species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Hoover's woollystar. It is endemic to the South Coast Ranges of California from San Benito to Los Angeles Counties, where it grows in grassy open habitat. It is an annual herb producing a wiry, usually woolly stem up to about 15 centimeters tall. The leaves are linear and threadlike, less than three centimeters long, and sometimes divided into two thready lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The flowers are white and just a few millimeters in length.
Eriastrum virgatum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name wand woollystar. It is endemic to California, where it is known the coastline and coastal mountain ranges of Monterey and San Benito Counties. It grows in chaparral and coastal and inland scrub habitat. It is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 40 centimeters tall. The leaves are narrow and thick, up to 5 centimeters long, and sometimes divided into two narrow lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The flowers have yellow throats and bright blue corollas with lobes up to a centimeter long.
Eriastrum wilcoxii is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name Wilcox's woollystar. It is native to the western United States, where it grows in various types of desert and plateau habitat. It is an annual herb producing a thin, branching, usually woolly stem up to about 30 centimeters tall. The leaves are narrow and thready, up to 3 centimeters long, and sometimes divided into two or more lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers have yellow throats and blue corollas with lobes up to half a centimeter long.
Eriophyllum ambiguum is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name beautiful woolly sunflower. It is native to the deserts and adjacent hills of southern and eastern California, northwestern Arizona, and southern Nevada.
Monardella hypoleuca is a species of flowering plant in the mint family, known by the common names thickleaf monardella and white leaf monardella.
Navarretia leucocephala is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name whitehead pincushionplant, or whitehead navarretia. It is native to North America, including much of the western United States and central Canada. It generally grows in wet or moist terrestrial habitat such as vernal pools.
Pedicularis howellii is an uncommon species of flowering plant in the family Orobanchaceae known by the common name Howell's lousewort. It is endemic to the Siskiyou Mountains of the Klamath Range in southern Oregon and northern California, where it grows on the edges of coniferous forests. This is a perennial herb producing one or more stems up to 45 centimetres (18 in) tall from a long caudex. The leaves are up to 20 centimetres (8 in) long, lance-shaped, and divided into many toothed oval lobes; those higher on the stem may be unlobed. The basal leaves fall away early. The inflorescence is a small raceme of flowers occupying the top of the stem. Each white to light purple flower is up to one centimetre long and is sickle-shaped, with a curved beak-like upper lip and a three-lobed lower lip which may be tucked into the hairy mass of sepals. The plant is pollinated by bumblebees including Bombus mixtus. Between the flowers are hairy to woolly triangular bracts. The fruit is a capsule just under a centimeter long containing seeds with netted surfaces.
Potentilla drummondii is a species of cinquefoil known by the common name Drummond's cinquefoil. It is native to North America from Alaska to California, where it grows in many types of moist habitat. It is perhaps better described as a species complex containing many intergrading subspecies that readily hybridize with other Potentilla species. The plant is variable, growing decumbent or erect, small and tufted or up to 60 centimeters tall, hairless to woolly. The leaves are divided into several leaflets, which may be cut into lobes or toothed. The inflorescence is a cyme of several flowers. Each has a small corolla of yellow petals, each petal one half to one centimeter in length.
Sidalcea hickmanii is a species of flowering plant in the mallow family known generally by the common name chaparral checkerbloom.
Streptanthus albidus is a species of flowering plant in the mustard family known by the common name Metcalf Canyon jewelflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Central Coast Ranges and San Francisco Bay Area. It grows in open areas such as grasslands, often on serpentine soils.
Trifolium andersonii is a species of clover known by the common names fiveleaf clover and Anderson's clover. It is native to the western United States, particularly the Great Basin and adjacent high mountain ranges, including the Sierra Nevada. It was named after Charles Lewis Anderson by Asa Gray.
Lomatium cookii is a rare species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common names Cook's lomatium and agate desertparsley. It is endemic to Oregon in the United States, where it grows in only two valleys. It is a federally listed endangered species.
