Eriophyllum mohavense

Last updated

Eriophyllum mohavense
Eriophyllum mohavense (Mojave woolly sunflower) (6739724025).jpg
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe) [1]
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Asterids
Order: Asterales
Family: Asteraceae
Genus: Eriophyllum
Species:
E. mohavense
Binomial name
Eriophyllum mohavense
Synonyms [2]

Eriophyllum mohavense, also known as the Mojave woolly sunflower or the Barstow woolly sunflower, [3] is a rare [4] species of small annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, found only (endemic) in the Mojave Desert of California. [5]

Contents

Range and habitat

Eriophyllum mohavense grows in open loamy, gravelly, or clay soils of the Mojave Desert. [5] It grows between 1,500 and 3,000 feet (450–900 meters) elevation. [5] It can be found in creosote bush scrub and saltbush scrub plant communities. It has been found in Kramer Hills, Boron, around Harper Dry Lake, Opal Mountain, Cuddleback Lake, and Kramer Junction. Some populations have been found within the boundaries of Edwards Air Force Base and Joshua Tree National Park. [4] [5] [3] [6]

Description

This is a tiny annual herb forming woolly tufts only 1 to 3 centimeters (0.4-1.2 inches) tall. [5] It is covered with long wooly hairs. [5] [6] There are a few lobed, pointed leaves at the base of the tuft, no more than a centimeter (0.4 inches) long each. The leaves are spoon-shaped, sometimes having 3 pointed teeth near the wider tip. [5] [6] The plant produces cylindrical flower heads just a few millimeters wide, containing usually 3-4 bright yellow disc flowers. [5] The phyllaries (green bracts surrounding the flower head) are concave. [5] The disc florets have ray-like lobes, but there are no true ray flowers. [6] The fruit is an achene about half a centimeter long including a short pappus. [6]

Conservation status

This plant is illustrative of problems with conducting botanical inventories of annuals in deserts. [4] Seeds may lay in the ground for years, waiting for the right germination conditions. [4] Aboveground plants may be absent for years, creating the false impression that plants populations are no longer present. [4]

It is threatened in almost its entire range, by military activities, grazing, off-road vehicles, and energy development. [5] It meets the criteria for listing to be protected, but as of 2014 has not been given legal protection. [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Eriophyllum lanatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower, Oregon sunshine and golden yarrow, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Eriophyllum lanosum</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum lanosum, the white woolly daisy or white easterbonnets, is a spring wildflower in the family Asteraceae. It grows in the eastern Mojave Desert and the Sonoran Desert in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.

Eriophyllum latilobum, the San Mateo woolly sunflower, is a perennial herb of sharply limited range, endemic and occurring only in the state of California, United States. This flowering plant of the family Asteraceae has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S. federal government as well as the state of California.

Eriophyllum multicaule is a North American flowering plant in the family Asteraceae, known by the common name manystem woolly sunflower. It is native to California and Arizona in the southwestern United States.

<i>Eriophyllum staechadifolium</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum staechadifolium is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae which is known by the common name seaside woolly sunflower. It is native to the coastline of Oregon and California including the Channel Islands. This is a plant of the beaches, dunes, and coastal scrub.

<i>Cirsium mohavense</i> Species of thistle

Cirsium mohavense is a species of thistle known by the common names virgin thistle and Mojave thistle. It is native to the southwestern United States, where it grows in moist areas in otherwise dry habitat, such as desert springs. It is most common in the Mojave Desert, found also in the southern Great Basin and other nearby regions of California, Nevada, western Arizona, and southwestern Utah.

<i>Encelia actoni</i> Species of flowering plant

Encelia actoni, also known by the common names Acton brittlebush and Acton encelia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Enceliopsis covillei</i> Species of flowering plant

Enceliopsis covillei, known by the common name Panamint daisy, is a rare North American desert species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.

<i>Dasyochloa</i> Genus of flowering plants

Dasyochloa is a monotypic genus containing the single species Dasyochloa pulchella, known as desert fluff-grass or low woollygrass, a densely tufted perennial grass found in the deserts of the southwestern United States.

Eriophyllum ambiguum is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae 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.

Eriophyllum congdonii, known by the common name Congdon's woolly sunflower, is a rare California species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae.

Eriophyllum jepsonii is a rare North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Jepson's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to California, where it has been found in the Central Coast Ranges and adjacent hills from Contra Costa County to Ventura County.

<i>Constancea</i> Genus of flowering plants

Constancea is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae containing the single species Constancea nevinii, which is known by the common name Nevin's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to three of the Channel Islands of California, where it grows in coastal scrub habitat. This is a small shrub or subshrub generally growing up to one or 1.5 meters tall, and taller when an erect form, with a branching, woolly stem. The whitish, woolly oval leaves may be up to 20 centimeters long and are divided into many narrow lobes with edges curled under. The inflorescence is a cluster of 10 to 50 or more small flower heads, each on a short peduncle. The flower head has a center of hairy, glandular, star-shaped yellow disc florets and a fringe of four to nine yellow ray florets, each about 2 millimeters long. The fruit is an achene a few millimeters long with a small pappus at the tip.

Eriophyllum nubigenum, the Yosemite woolly sunflower, is an uncommon flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Sierra Nevada in and around Yosemite National Park.

<i>Eriophyllum pringlei</i> Species of flowering plant

Eriophyllum pringlei is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Pringle's woolly sunflower. It is native to the southwestern United States and northern Mexico, where it grows in several types of desert, canyon, and hillside habitat, such as chaparral and sagebrush.

<i>Rafinesquia neomexicana</i>

Rafinesquia neomexicana is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Common names include desert chicory, plumeseed, or New Mexico plumeseed. It has white showy flowers, milky sap, and weak, zigzag stems, that may grow up through other shrubs for support. It is an annual plant found in dry climate areas of the southwestern deserts of the US and northwestern deserts of Mexico.

<i>Lomatium mohavense</i> Species of flowering plant

Lomatium mohavense is a species of flowering plant in the carrot family known by the common name Mojave desertparsley. It is native to southern California with a few outlying populations in Arizona, Nevada and Baja California. It is found in several types of mountain and desert habitat, including chaparral, woodland, and scrub, mostly from 2,000–7,000 feet (600–2,100 m) elevation.

<i>Arida arizonica</i> Species of flowering plant

Arida arizonica,, is an annual plant in the, known by the common names arid tansyaster, desert tansyaster, and Silver Lake daisy. It is native to the very arid deserts of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, and usually looks straggly and not very attractive. But in years with very heavy rainfall, it fills out and becomes rounded and bush like.

Stylocline citroleum is a rare species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name oil neststraw.

<i>Tetracoccus hallii</i> Species of shrub

Tetracoccus hallii is a species of flowering shrub in the family Picrodendraceae, known by the common names Hall's shrubby-spurge and Hall's tetracoccus.

References

  1. "NatureServe Explorer 2.0".
  2. The Plant List, Eriophyllum mohavense (I.M.Johnst.) Jeps.
  3. 1 2 Calflora taxon report, University of California, Eriophyllum mohavense (I.M. Johnston) Jepson, Barstow woolly sunflower, Mojave woolly sunflower
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Rare Plant Diversity in the California Deserts: Priorities for Research and Conservation, Kara A. Moore and James M. Andre, Fremontia, Journal of the California Native Plant Society, Vol. 42 No. 1 , January 2014, p11
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Mojave Desert Wildflowers, Pam MacKay, 2nd Ed, 2014, p 199
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 Flora of North America, Eriophyllum mohavense (I. M. Johnston) Jepson, 1925. Mohave or Barstow woolly sunflower