Eriophyllum
Encyclopedia
Eriophyllum, commonly known as the woolly sunflower, is a genus
of annual or herbaceous perennial plant native to western North America
, with a concentration of narrow endemics in the California Floristic Province
.
Eriophyllum species are used as food plants by the larva
e of some Lepidoptera
species including Phymatopus californicus
.
manifests heads that somewhat radiate and has clusters that are generally flat-topped; the involucre
structure is obconic
to hemispheric
. Phyllaries are either free or more or less fused; the receptacle presents typically flat, but naked. The ray flowers have yellow ligule
s entire to lobed. The corolla is also yellow. Fruit
s manifest as angled in the outer flowers, but are generally club-shaped for the inner flowers; the pappus
is somewhat jagged.
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
of annual or herbaceous perennial plant native to western North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, with a concentration of narrow endemics in the California Floristic Province
California Floristic Province
The California Floristic Province is a floristic province with a Mediterranean climate located on the Pacific Coast of North America with a distinctive flora that bears similarities to floras found in other regions experiencing a winter rainfall, summer drought climate like the Mediterranean...
.
Eriophyllum species are used as food plants by the larva
Larva
A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...
e of some Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera
Lepidoptera is a large order of insects that includes moths and butterflies . It is one of the most widespread and widely recognizable insect orders in the world, encompassing moths and the three superfamilies of butterflies, skipper butterflies, and moth-butterflies...
species including Phymatopus californicus
Phymatopus
Phymatopus is a genus of moths of the family Hepialidae. There are six described species scattered across the Northern Hemisphere, placed in two groups.-Species:Phymatopus Wallengren, 1869*Phymatopus hecta Gold Swift - Europe...
.
Description
Each of the 14 species members in the genus Eriophyllum possesses the following general characteristics. Leaves present generally alternate and entire to nearly compound. The inflorescenceInflorescence
An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
manifests heads that somewhat radiate and has clusters that are generally flat-topped; the involucre
Involucre
Involucre may refer to* involucral bract, a bract, bract pair, or whorl of bracts surrounding a flower or inflorescence* a term sometimes misused for the cupule surrounding developing nuts in the Fagaceae...
structure is obconic
Obconic
In botany, an obconic is an inverted cone shape. The term is most frequently applied to certain fruit or hypanthium structures with the apical end attached to the stem; however, less frequently the usage may apply to the pistil structure. In the case of fungi the designation is often made to the...
to hemispheric
Sphere
A sphere is a perfectly round geometrical object in three-dimensional space, such as the shape of a round ball. Like a circle in two dimensions, a perfect sphere is completely symmetrical around its center, with all points on the surface lying the same distance r from the center point...
. Phyllaries are either free or more or less fused; the receptacle presents typically flat, but naked. The ray flowers have yellow ligule
Ligule
A ligule — is a thin outgrowth at the junction of leaf and leafstalk of many grasses and sedges or a strap-shaped corolla, such as that of a ray floret in plants in the daisy family....
s entire to lobed. The corolla is also yellow. Fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
s manifest as angled in the outer flowers, but are generally club-shaped for the inner flowers; the pappus
Pappus (flower structure)
The pappus is the modified calyx, the part of an individual disk, ray or ligule floret surrounding the base of the corolla, in flower heads of the plant family Asteraceae. The pappus may be composed of bristles , awns, scales, or may be absent. In some species, the pappus is too small to see...
is somewhat jagged.
Species
- E. ambiguumEriophyllum ambiguumEriophyllum 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 southeastern California and southern Nevada, where it grows in chaparral, woodlands, and desert habitat. It is an annual...
: Beautiful woolly sunflower - E. confertiflorumEriophyllum confertiflorumEriophyllum confertiflorum, known by the common name Golden yarrow or Yellow yarrow, is a flowering plant in the daisy family.-Distribution:...
: Golden Yarrow - E. congdoniiEriophyllum congdoniiEriophyllum congdonii, known by the common name Congdon's woolly sunflower, is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family.-Description:...
: Congdon's woolly sunflower - E. jepsoniiEriophyllum jepsoniiEriophyllum jepsonii is a species of flowering plant in the aster family known by the common name Jepson's woolly sunflower. It is endemic to California, where it is known from the Central Coast Ranges and adjacent hills from Contra Costa to Ventura Counties. It grows in dry habitat such as...
: Jepson's woolly sunflower - E. lanatum: Common woolly sunflower
- E. lanosum: White woolly daisy
- E. latilobumEriophyllum latilobumEriophyllum latilobum or San Mateo woolly sunflower is a perennial herb of sharply limited range, endemic and occurring only in the state of California, USA. This flowering plant of the Asteraceae family has been listed as an endangered species by the U.S...
: San Mateo woolly sunflower - E. mohavenseEriophyllum mohavenseEriophyllum mohavense, also known as the Mojave woolly sunflower or the Barstow woolly sunflower is a rare species of flowering plant in the aster family. It is endemic to the Mojave Desert of California, where it grows in the desert scrub. This is a tiny annual herb forming woolly tufts only 1 to...
: Mojave woolly sunflower - E. multicauleEriophyllum multicauleEriophyllum multicaule is a flowering plant in the daisy family which is known by the common name manystem woolly sunflower. It is native to California, and its range may extend into Arizona. It can be found in chaparral habitat, especially along the California coast. This is a small clumpy annual...
: Manystem woolly sunflower - E. nevinii: Nevin's woolly sunflower
- E. nubigenumEriophyllum nubigenumEriophyllum nubigenum, with the common name Yosemite woolly sunflower, is an uncommon flowering plant in the daisy family.-Description:...
: Yosemite woolly sunflower - E. pringleiEriophyllum pringleiEriophyllum pringlei is a species of flowering plant in the daisy family which is 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...
: Pringle's woolly sunflower - E. stoechadifoliumEriophyllum stoechadifoliumEriophyllum stoechadifolium is a flowering plant in the daisy family which is known by the common name seaside woolly sunflower. It is native to the coastline of Oregon and California as far south as the Channel Islands. This is a plant of the beaches, dunes, and coastal scrub...
: Seaside woolly sunflower - E. wallaceiEriophyllum wallaceiEriophyllum wallacei is a flowering plant in the daisy family which is known by the common names woolly daisy and woolly easterbonnets. This is a small, squat daisy which may grow in clumps or on short erect stems in sand, rocks, and gravel in the southwestern United States. The plant is covered...
syn. Antheropeas wallacei: Woolly Easterbonnets