Carnegiea gigantea, Giant Saguaro

Southwest Desert Flora

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

Cirsium ochrocentrum, Yellowspine Thistle

Eriophyllum pringlei, Pringle's Wooly Sunflower

Pringle's Wooly Sunflower is a small woolly-white attractive species with tiny yellow all-disk flowers. The plants only grow up to about 2 inches or so. Eriophyllum pringlei Pringle's Wooly Sunflower has single or small clusters of flowers growing from leaf axils. The plants bloom from March to July across its small geographic range. Eriophyllum pringlei Pringle's Wooly Sunflower is a low growing species, woolly white over most of the plant often looking velvety and cotton-like. Plants grow in elevations from 1,000 to 6,500 feet in elevation. Eriophyllum pringlei Pringle's Wooly Sunflower or Wooly Sunflower is rare in the United States where it is native only to Arizona, southeast California and southern Nevada. The species thrives in mesas, plains, canyons, hillsides and sandy or gravelly soil in various habitats. Eriophyllum pringlei

Scientific Name: Eriophyllum pringlei
Common Name: Pringle's Wooly Sunflower

Also Called: Pringle’s Eriophyllum, Wooly Sunflower

Family: Asteraceae, Sunflower Family

Synonyms: (Actinolepis nivea, Eriophyllum multicaule var. pringlei)

Status: Native

Duration: Annual

Size: Up to 2 inches (15 cm) or so.

Growth Form: Forb/herb; stems more or less spreading; plants white-woolly.

Leaves: Green, light green; generally 3-lobed; leaf edges or margins are rolled-under (revolute); leaf surfaces woolly; leaves arranged alternately along the stem.

Flower Color: Golden yellow, flower heads sessile from axils and solitary or in leafy clusters; florets disk only.

Flowering Season: March to May; February to July in California.

Elevation: 1,000 to 6,500 feet (304-1,981 m)

Habitat Preferences: Mesas, plains, canyons, hillsides, sandy or gravelly soil in various habitats; desert scrub, chaparral vegetation, sagebrush or woodland.

Recorded Range: Rare in the United States where it is native only to AZ, southeast CA and southern NV. Also native to Baja California and northern Mexico. Limited in distribution in Arizona to the central, southern and northwest parts of the state.

North America & US County Distribution Map for Eriophyllum pringlei.

North America species range map for Pringle's Wooly Sunflower, Eriophyllum pringlei:
North American range map courtesy of Virginia Tech, Dept. of Forest Resources & Environmental Conservation

North America species range map for Pringle's Wooly Sunflower, Eriophyllum pringlei: 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: Pringle's Woolly Sunflower is the only one of 3 species of Eriophyllum native to Arizona without ray florets. Pringle's Woolly Sunflower is partial to the Mojave Desert and Lower Colorado Basin area although it is native to both the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Although the Lower Colorado River Basin is a sub-division of the Sonoran desert it possess characteristics similar to the Mojave Desert.

In Southwest Desert Flora also see; White Woolly Daisy, Eriophyllum lanosum and Wallace Eriophyllum, Eriophyllum wallacei.

Importance to Wildlife, Birds and Livestock
Eriophyllum pringlei 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 pringlei 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 “pringlei” (pring'lei:) is named in honor of Cyrus G. Pringle, (1838-1911)

Ethnobotany
Unknown

Date Profile Completed: 8/13/2012; updated 07/21/2020
References:
Arizona Flora, Kearney, Thomas H., Peebles, Robert H., 1960, University of California Press, Berkley and Los Angeles
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) 2017. Eriophyllum pringlei, in Jepson Flora Project (eds.) Jepson eFlora,
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=2824, accessed on April 20, 2017.
Dale E. Johnson, John S. Mooring, FNA | Family List | FNA Vol. 21 | Asteraceae | Eriophyllum, 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/pagePI-PY.html