Eriastrum diffusum is a species of flowering plant in the phlox family known by the common name miniature woollystar. It is native to the southwestern United States from California to Texas, where it grows in many types of open habitat. This is an annual herb producing a thin, usually woolly stem up to about 20 centimeters long, growing erect or spreading outward. The leaves are divided into 2 to 4 narrow, threadlike linear lobes. The inflorescence is a woolly cluster of narrow, leaflike bracts laced with webby fibers. The small flowers are funnel-shaped, with yellowish throats and white to pale blue corollas.
Taxonomy In 1870 Asa Gray described a variety of Gilia filifolia he named diffusa. It was described as a species twice before Herbert Louis Mason moved it to the genus Eriastrum creating the accepted species name. Together with its genus it is classified in the Polemoniaceae family. It has three subspecies.
Eriastrum diffusum subsp. coachellae – Native to California Eriastrum diffusum subsp. diffusum – Widespread in the southwestern US and northern Mexico Eriastrum diffusum subsp. utahense – Native to Utah
Eriastrum diffusum has synonyms of the species or one of its three subspecies.
Table of Synonyms Name Year Rank Synonym of: Notes Eriastrum diffusum var. coachellae 2023 variety subsp. coachellae ≡ hom. Eriastrum diffusum subsp. jonesii 1945 subspecies subsp. diffusum = het. Eriastrum diffusum var. utahense 2023 variety subsp. utahense ≡ hom. Gilia filifolia var. diffusa 1870 variety E. diffusum ≡ hom. Hugelia diffusa 1943 species E. diffusum ≡ hom. Hugelia virgata var. pygmaea 1925 variety subsp. diffusum = het. Navarretia filifolia var. diffusa 1907 variety E. diffusum ≡ hom. Welwitschia diffusa 1917 species E. diffusum ≡ hom. Welwitschia filifolia var. diffusa 1935 variety E. diffusum ≡ hom. Notes: ≡ homotypic synonym; = heterotypic synonym
References
External links Jepson Manual Treatment Photo gallery