Desert Woollystar
Eriastrum eremicum
Observed along Camp Creek east of Carefree, Maricopa Co., Arizona. 25 March 2012.
ANNUAL: Diminutive spring annual becoming apparent after many other
spring annuals have withered. Upright, about 15 cm
or less, sometimes branched.
FLOWERS: Pale blue to nearly white with five points. The flowers are
radially symmetrical. Blooming mid to late spring. The sepals below the petals
are coated with woolly hairs.
LEAVES: Leaves are linear and mostly without narrow lobes.
RANGE: Growing in sandy or gravel washes through much the Sonoran Desert
in Arizona and Mexico, also ranging into the Mojave Desert westwards.
FRUIT: Dry capsule with several seeds.
UNARMED. No thorns, but dried leaves and floral bracts can be a little
sharp.