Sapphire Woollystar
Eriastrum sapphirinum
Color: Blue
Common name: Sapphire Woollystar
Latin name: Eriastrum sapphirinum
Family: POLEMONIACEAE
Height: 2-16 inches
Description: The funnel-shaped flowers have five lobes each, one half to one centimeter long and pale to bright blue. The throat of the flower is the same color or yellowish to white. At the mouth of the tube there may be dots of yellow and white. The light colored stamens protrude. The stem is erect and may be reddish to green.
Leaf: 5–55 mm threadlike with sparse hairs to a coat of dense wool.
Range: s California Floristic Province, w Desert
Habitat: Many communities
Elevation: 700–2700 m.
Flowering time: Jun–Aug
Notes: Eriastrum sapphirinum, a dicot, is an annual herb that is endemic to California according to the USDA. This flower was photographed June 13, 2009 in Riverside County, California, using a Canon EOS 30D and 180mm macro lens.
We have an online wildflower field guide that is designed to help you identify desert wildflowers by color, scientific name, region and common name. The pictures are sized to work on the iPod, iPhone, iPad and similar devices. With your iPod or phone you will easily be able to identify wildflowers while in the desert. Links for downloads are on the bottom of the Wildflower Field Guide page.
Photo tips: Most digital point-and-shoot cameras have a macro function - usually symbolized by the icon of a little flower. When you turn on that function, you allow your camera to get closer to the subject, looking into a flower for example. Or getting up close and personal with a bug. More on desert photography.
Mojave Desert Wildflowers - This book is the standard by which all other wildflower books are measured. The author, Jon Mark Stewart, has combined super photography with concise information. This book has an entire color page for each wildflower covered, with a discussion of the wildflower. 210 pages with 200 color photos. More...
What's Blooming Now - Check the Wildflower Reports
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