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Antheropeas wallacei - woolly easterbonnets

Scientific Family
Asteraceae
Synonyms
Eriophyllum wallacei, E. wallacei ssp. australe, E. wallacei var. calvescens, E. wallacei var. rubellum
Other common names
eriophyllum, Wallace's Woolly-Sunflower
Wallace eriophyllum
Wallace's woolydaisy
woolly easter-bonnets
Plant type
Forbs and Subshrubs
Origin
Native
Lifecycle
Annual
Height
Up to 3 inches
Riparian
No
A tiny, woolly tufted plant with small golden yellow flower heads. In drought plants often grow about 1/4 inch before producing 1 head, ensuring at least some seeds. In moist conditions plants produce taller stems, many heads and abundant seeds.
Very hairy annuals, ray flowers yellow, numbering 5 to 10; disc flowers glandular; flower heads solitary at the tip of 1/2 to 4 inch long stems; stems numerous making the flower heads appear crowded; fruit with scales.

Habitat

Sandy or gravelly openings, creosote-bush or sagebrush scrublands, Joshua Tree or pinyon-juniper woodlands, or chaparral, mesas and plains.
Plant Community
Pinyon Juniper Woodlands
Interior Chaparral
Desert Scrub
Low elevation
2000
High elevation
4500

Flower Characteristics

Heads solitary at the ends of branches, but flower stems are usually short and the branches numerous making the heads appear crowded; bracts about 1/4 inch high; phyllaries 6 to 10, egg-shaped, distinct; ray flowers 5 to 10, yellow, 1/8 to 1/4 inch long.
Flower color
Golden yellow
Flower shape
Daisy or dandelion-like
Tubular
No
First bloom month
March
Last bloom month
June
Flower clusters
Rounded

Leaf and Stem Characteristics

Very hairy leaf blades, narrow at the base, usually smooth but rarely 3-lobed at the apex, 1/8 to 1/2 inch long.
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf color
Grayish-green
Leaf shape
Narrow
Leaf margin
Smooth
Leaf attachment
Basal & Alternate
Leaves clasp
No
Leaf hairs
Leaves & stems
Spines
No

Fruit and Seed Characteristics

Achenes (single-seeded, sunflower-like) about 1/16 inch long, narrowly linear, minutely sparse or smooth; pappus (scales or bristles at the apex of the achene) of 6 to 10 opaque, short paleae (chaffy scale or bract) or sometimes none.
Fruit type
Achene