Common Name: fairyduster

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Subshrub

General: Spreading shrub growing to 1 m high, with unarmed light gray to whitish stems. Young stems and twigs densely to moderately pubescent with short white hairs.

Leaves: Widely spaced leaves twice-pinnate with 2-4 pairs of pinnae, each with 7-9 (occasionally 10) pairs of leaflets 2-3 mm long, generally cold deciduous.

Flowers: Showy, dense spherical heads 4-5 cm in diameter. Corollas 5-6 mm long and inconspicuous; stamens showy, pink, rose, or reddish purple up to 1.5 cm long.

Fruits: Linear velvety pods 5-7 mm wide and 3-7 cm long with thickened margins.

Ecology: Grows along washes, on slopes and mesas, from 2,000-5,000 ft (762-1676 m); flowers February-April, occasionally September-October.

Distribution: s CA, AZ, sw NM, s TX; south to s MEX.

Notes: A low-growing shrub distinguished by its low, spreading or creeping habit; twice pinnate leaves; lack of spines; long, bright white-pink-red stamens; and flattened pods with thickened margins.

Ethnobotany: Decoction taken as a gynecological aid after childbirth by Yavapai.

Etymology: Calliandra is from Greek kallos -beautiful- and andra -stamen-, while eriophylla is from Greek erion -wool- and phyllon -leaf- referring to matted white hairs that cover the plant when young. 

Synonyms: Calliandra eriophylla var. chamaedrys, Calliandra eriophylla var. eriophylla

Editor: SBuckley 2010, FSCoburn 2015