Eriophyllum lanatum

Eriophyllum lanatum is a perennial herb growing from 30 to 60 centimetres (12 to 24 inches) in height, in well-branched clumps. Both the stems and leaves may be covered with a woolly gray hair, but some plants lack this. The leaves are 2.5–7.5 cm (1–3 in) long,[3] linear on the upper stems, and slender and pinnately lobed on the lower stems.[2] The hairs conserve water by reflecting heat and reducing air movement across the leaf's surface.[2][3]

The flowers are yellow and composite, looking much like true sunflowers, and sometimes grow to about 5 cm (2 in) wide.[3] Both the (8–12) ray and disk flowers are yellow,[3] with one flower head on each flowering stalk.[2][6] The flower heads have 6–14 rays, which are darker towards the base, and several disk flowers.[7] They bloom from May to August.[4][5] The seeds have scales at the tip.[3]

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 on 6 June 1806. Botanist Frederick Traugott Pursh studied the plants collected on the expedition; his first classification and naming of the species, as Actinella lanata, was published in 1813.[8]

The common name "woolly sunflower" is often used to describe any member of the genus Eriophyllum.

Eriophyllum lanatum is native to western North America. It is most common across California,[4] also growing north through Oregon into British Columbia and east through Idaho into Wyoming, and through Nevada into Utah.[4][17] This species has only been collected from Mexico once, on Guadalupe Island, and it is most likely extirpated there.[18]

It can be found (for instance in California) in chaparral, oak woodland, mixed evergreen forest, and yellow pine forest and other conifer forests, grassland, and sagebrush scrub habitats.[4] It commonly grows in dry, open places[3] below 3,000 meters (10,000 feet) in elevation. It prefers full sun and well-drained soil, but it also grows on rocky slopes and bluffs.[7]

• Pink, A. (2004). Gardening for the Million. Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Eriophyllum lanatum.

• 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