Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

Home to the plants of the Sonoran, Chihuahuan and Mojave Deserts

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Eriophyllum wallacei, Wallace Eriophyllum

Wallace Eriophyllum is also called Woolly Daisy or Woolly Easterbonnets has showy yellow flowers generally with yellow centers. Eriophyllum wallacei Wallace Eriophyllum plants are erect to spreading and generally covered with tufted or woolly hairs. Eriophyllum wallacei Wallace Eriophyllum is a small daisy-like species that grows up to 6 inches or so tall. Woolly Daisy, as it is sometimes called, blooms from March to July across its relatively small geographic range. Eriophyllum wallacei Wallace Eriophyllum may be found in elevations between 2,000 to 4,000 feet (610-1,219 m) and at sea-level to 7,400 feet (2,256 m) in California. Eriophyllum wallacei

Scientific Name: Eriophyllum wallacei
Common Name: Wallace Eriophyllum

Also Called: Woolly Daisy, Woolly Easterbonnets

Family: Asteraceae, Sunflower Family

Synonyms: (Antheropeas wallacei, Bahia wallacei, Eriophyllum wallacei var. calvescens, Eriophyllum wallacei var. rubellum, Eriophyllum aureum)

Status: Native

Duration: Annual

Size: Up to 6 inches (15 cm) or so

Growth Form: Forb/herb; plants erect to spreading or ascending; plants often tufted or woolly.

Leaves: Green, gray-green; leaf shape variable, obovate to spatulate; leaf edges or margins entire or 3-lobed.

Flower Color: Yellow; solitary flowers; flower heads with both ray (5 to 8) and disk (20 to 30) florets; fruit is a cypsela.

Flowering Season: March to June; December to July in California

Elevation: 100 to 7,800 feet (30-2,400 m)

Habitat Preferences: Mesas and plains; sandy or gravelly openings, pinyon-juniper, creosote-bush, chaparral, sagebrush, and Joshua Tree communities.

Recorded Range: Wallace Eriophyllum is native mostly to the southwestern United States in AZ, CA, NV, UT, WY. This species is also native to Baja California and Mexico.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Eriophyllum wallacei, as Antheropeas wallacei.

North America species range map for Wallace Eriophyllum, Eriophyllum wallacei:
North American range map courtesy of Virginia Tech, Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation

North America species range map for Wallace Eriophyllum, Eriophyllum wallacei: Click image for full size map.
Click image for full size map

U.S. Weed Information: Unknown
Invasive/Noxious Weed Information: Unknown
Wetland Indicator: Unknown
Threatened/Endangered Information: Unknown

Genus Information: In North America there are 12 species and 12 accepted taxa overall for Eriophyllum (includes genus Antheropeas as a synonym). Worldwide, The Plant List includes 13 accepted species names and a further 52 of infraspecific rank for the genus.

The genus Eriophyllum was published by Mariano Lagasca y Segura in 1816.

In the Southwestern United States: Arizona has 5 species of genus, California has 13 species, Nevada has 5 species, New Mexico has 1 species, Texas has 0 species, Utah has 3 species. Statistics include genus Antheropeas as a synonym. All data is approximate and subject to taxonomic changes.

Comments:

In Southwest Desert Flora also see; White Woolly Daisy, Eriophyllum lanosum and Pringle's Wooly Sunflower, Eriophyllum pringlei.

Importance to Wildlife, Birds and Livestock
Eriophyllum wallacei flowers and plants may be visited by hummingbirds and/or small mammals in search of food, nectar or cover.

Special Value to Native bees, Butterflies and Insects
Eriophyllum wallacei flowers and plants may be visited by native bees, butterflies and/or insects in search of food, nectar or cover.

Etymology:
The genus “Eriophyllum” (Eriophyl'lum; eriophyl'la:) is from the Greek erion, “wool,” and phyllon, “leaf,” thus a reference to the matted woolly white hairs that cover the plant.

The genus Eriophyllum was published by Mariano Lagasca y Segura in 1816.

The species epithet “wallacei” (wal'lacei:) is named in honor of William Allen Wallace, (1815-1893) .

Ethnobotany
Unknown

Date Profile Completed: 04/19/2017; updated 07/21/2020
References:
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960,University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles, California.
U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service on-line database and USGS ITIS search - as Antheropeas lanosum
https://plants.usda.gov/java/ClassificationServlet?source=profile&symbol=ERIOP2&display=31
The Plant List (2013). Version 1.1. Published on the Internet; http://www.theplantlist.org/ (accessed 07/16/2020).
http://www.theplantlist.org/1.1/browse/A/Compositae/Eriophyllum/
John S. Mooring & Dale E. Johnson (annual species) 2012, Eriophyllum wallacei, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora, /eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=1073, accessed on July 21, 2020.
https://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=1073
Native Plant Information Network, NPIN (2013). Published on the Internet http://www.wildflower.org/plants/; as Antheropeas wallacei [accessed: 07/21/2020]. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at The University of Texas, Austin, TX.
https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=ANWA
Dale E. Johnson, John S. Mooring FNA | Family List | FNA Vol. 21 | Asteraceae |Eriophyllum, 5. Eriophyllum wallacei (A. Gray) A. Gray, Proc. Amer. Acad. Arts. 19: 25. 1883.; Flora of North America Editorial Committee, eds. 1993+. Flora of North America North of Mexico. 16+ vols. New York and Oxford.
SEINet synonyms, scientific names, geographic locations, general information.
http://swbiodiversity.org/seinet/
Etymology: Michael L. Charters California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Meanings and Derivations; A Dictionary of Botanical and Biographical Etymology - (accessed 07/16/2020)
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageE.html
http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageW.html