Eriophyllum lanatum
| Common woolly sunflower | |
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| Dark Divide in Washington | |
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| Species: | E. lanatum
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| Binomial name | |
| Eriophyllum lanatum | |
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Synonymy
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Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower and Oregon sunshine, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the sunflower family.[3][4][2]
Taxonomy
The Lewis and Clark Expedition reportedly saw this plant growing above their camp on the Clearwater River (near present-day Kamiah, Idaho), and collected two specimens of the then scientifically unnamed plant on 6 June 1806. [citation needed] Botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh studied the plants collected on the Lewis and Clark Expedition, after their return to the east. His first classification and naming of the species, as Actinella lanata, was published in his 1813 book A Systematic Arrangement and Description of The Plants of North America.
The common name "woolly sunflower" is often used to describe any member of the genus Eriophyllum.
Distribution
Eriophyllum lanatum is native to western North America, commonly growing in many dry, open places below 10,000 feet (3,000 m) in elevation. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil, but it also grows on rocky slopes and bluffs.
It is most common across California, in chaparral, oak woodland, mixed evergreen forest, and yellow pine forest and other conifer forests, grassland, and sagebrush scrub habitats.[3]
It also grows north through Oregon into British Columbia and east through Idaho into Wyoming, and through Nevada into Utah.[3][5] Its range reaches south into Mexico in Baja California state.[2]
Description
Eriophyllum lanatum is a perennial herb growing from 1 to 2 feet (30 to 60 centimeters) in height. The woolly sunflower grows in well-branched clumps. Both stems and leaves may be covered with a woolly gray hair, but some plants lack this hair. The hairs conserve water by reflecting heat and reducing air movement across the leaf's surface. The hairs impart a dusty gray color to the plant.[2]
The leaves are linear on the upper stems; the lower portions of the stem have slender, pinnately lobed leaves.[2]
- Inflorescence
Flowers are yellow and composite, looking much like true sunflowers, and sometimes grow to 2 inches (5 cm) wide. Both the ray and disk flowers are yellow, with one flower head on each flowering stalk.[2][6]
It blooms from May to August,[3][4]
Varieties
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. achillioides (DC.) Jeps. — California, Nevada, Oregon.[7]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. arachnoideum (Fisch. & Avé-Lall.) Jeps. — Spiderweb sunflower; endemic to the California Coast Ranges from Del Norte County to Monterey County in California.[8]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. croceum (Greene) Jeps. — Sierra woolly sunflower; endemic to the Sierra Nevada in California.[9]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. grandiflorum (A.Gray) Jeps. — Large flowered woolly sunflower; northern California, Oregon.[10]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. hallii Constance — Fort Tejon woolly sunflower, Hall's woolly sunflower; endemic to the Tehachapi Mountains in Kern County, and Sierra Madre Mountains in Santa Barbara County, in southern California.[11]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. integrifolium (Hook.) Smiley — Oregon sunshine; California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming.[12]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. lanatum — Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington.
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. lanceolatum (Howell) Jeps. — endemic to the Klamath Mountains, in NW California and SW Oregon.[13]
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. leucophyllum (DC.) W.R.Carter — British Columbia, Oregon, Washington.
- Eriophyllum lanatum var. obovatum (Greene) H.M.Hall — Southern Sierra woolly sunflower; endemic to the western Sierra Nevada and the San Bernardino Mountains in California.[14]
References
- ^ The Plant List, Eriophyllum lanatum (Pursh) J.Forbes
- ^ a b c d e f g Tropicos, Eriophyllum lanatum (Pursh) J. Forbes
- ^ a b c d e University of California, Calflora taxon report: Eriophyllum lanatum (Pursh) James Forbes
- ^ a b Sierra Nevada Wildflowers, Karen Wiese, 2nd Ed. 2013, p. 116
- ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map
- ^ a b Flora of North America, Eriophyllum lanatum (Pursh) J. Forbes, 1833. Common woolly sunflower
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. achilleoides
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. arachnoideum
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. croceum
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. grandiflorum
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. hallii
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. integrifolium
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. lanceolatum
- ^ Calflora: Eriophyllum lanatum var. obovatum
- Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.
External links
- Calflora Database: Eriophyllum lanatum (Common woolly sunflower, Wooly sunflower)
- Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Eriophyllum lanatum
- USDA Plants Profile for Eriophyllum lanatum (common woolly sunflower)
- U.C. Calphotos gallery: Eriophyllum lanatum images
- Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest: Eriophyllum lanatum — photos, description, Northwest distribution map.
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, University of Texas: Eriophyllum lanatum
- Eriophyllum
- Flora of the Northwestern United States
- Flora of California
- Flora of Baja California
- Flora of British Columbia
- Flora of Nevada
- Flora of Utah
- Flora of the Cascade Range
- Flora of the Great Basin
- Flora of the Klamath Mountains
- Flora of the Sierra Nevada (U.S.)
- Natural history of the California chaparral and woodlands
- Plants described in 1813
- Taxa named by Frederick Traugott Pursh