Eriastrum diffusum (Blue Mantle, Miniature Woollystar)

 5/25/03 Black Canyon Road between Mid Hills and Cedar Canyon Road, 

Mojave National Preserve, E. Mojave, San Bernardino County, CA

  5/25/03 Black Canyon Road

5/25/03 Trailhead at Teutonia Peak Trail, Cima Dome, Mojave National Preserve,

E. Mojave, San Bernardino County, CA

LIFE LIST NOTES:

COMMON NAME: Blue Mantle, Miniature Woollystar

SPECIES: Eriastrum diffusum

FAMILY: Polemoniaceae (Phlox Family)

LIFE LIST DATE: 5/25/2003

LOCATION: Black Canyon Road between Mid Hills and Cedar Canyon Road, Mojave National Preserve, E. Mojave, San Bernardino County, CA

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Treatment from The Jepson Manual (1993):

Annual

Stem erect or spreading, 3–20 cm

Leaf 10–25 mm; lobes generally 2–4 near base, nearly glabrous to woolly

Flower: corolla generally funnel-shaped, tube 3–5 mm, blue or yellow, lobes 3–5 mm, light blue or cream; stamens attached in upper throat, unequal, excerpted

Ecology: Open, areas, sandy soil

Elevation: < 2000 m.  

Bioregional distribution: s High Sierra Nevada (se Tulare Co.), White and Inyo Mountains, Desert

  
Distribution outside California: to Colorado, New Mexico, Texas

Flowering time: Mar–May

Despite name, not always openly or diffusely branched.