PLANTS: glabrous or woolly.

LEAVES: narrow, oblong- or linear-Ianceolate to linear, the lower ones 2-6 cm long, mostly 3-10 mm broad, the upper ones 2-3 cm long, 1-3 mm broad.

NOTES: The glabrous form of this plant was formerly known as A. eastwoodiana; seeds from a single follicle, however, can develop into either woolly or glabrous plants, and the two forms often occur together.Sandy deserts: Coconino, Mohave Cos.; 450-1400 m (1500-4500 ft); Apr-Jun. s NM, w TX, s UT; n Mex.

REFERENCES: McLaughlin, Steven, P. 1994. Apocynaceae. J. Ariz. - Nev. Acad. Sci. Volume 27, 164-168.

Duration: Perennial

Nativity: Native

Lifeform: Forb/Herb

General: Herbaceous perennials, 20-60 cm tall, stems erect, numerous, leafy, herbage glabrous, pubescent, or moderately to densely white woolly.

Leaves: Alternate, sessile or nearly so, lanceolate to ovate or rhombic-ovate, 2-5 cm long and 1-2 cm wide, gradually to abruptly narrowing apically, acute to acuminate at the tips, surfaces hairy to glabrous.

Flowers: Light purple to pale lead blue, grouped in showy heads, salverform with 5 petals at the tip of a long throat, corolla tube 7-12 mm long, broadest at the apex, markedly constricted at the orifice, the lobes 3-10 mm long, calyx lobes green, linear, 2-9 mm long, flowers borne in dense, terminal, compound cymes, pedicels 3 mm long or less.

Fruits: Follicles (1 carpel which splits along 1 seam) oblong and acute at the tips, 2-8 cm long, distinctly constricted between the seeds on the edges as well as along the faces, surfaces glabrous to densely wooly. Seeds elliptic, corky, 8-21 mm long, 3-6 mm bro

Ecology: Found in sandy deserts, from 100-5,000 ft (30-1524 m); flowering April-June.

Distribution: Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah.

Ethnobotany: A compound poultice of the root applied with much ceremony to rattlesnake bite.

Etymology: Amsonia is named for Charles Amson, American physician who lived in Virginia in 1760 and was a friend of prominent physician, botanist and plant collector John Clayton; tomentosa means densely covered with matted wool or short hair, tomentose.

Synonyms: None

Editor: LCrumbacher2012