Mountain Mule's Ears, Rough Dwarf Sunflower, Woolly Dwarf Mule's Ears, Woolly Mule's Ears
Wyethia mollis
Woolly dwarf sunflower as seen along Forest Road #3615, North Warner Mountains, Fremont National Forest..........June 12, 2016.
Photo at right of the flower head of woolly dwarf sunflower from Cottonwood
Meadows, Fremont N.F.........July 15, 1998.
Characteristics:
Woolly dwarf sunflower is a perennial from 50 to 100 cm in height. It is typically
softly tomentose throughout, but may become glabrous with age. The basal leaves
are oblong-ovate to obovate, entire, with the leaf blade from 20 to 40 cm long
(See photos.). The basal leaves also have a long petiole. The stem leaves are
similar but reduced in size, and have petioles with dilated bases.
The stems bear one to several sessile or short-pedunculated heads. There
may be from 6 to 12 yellow rays, from 2.5 to 3.5 cm long surrounding the yellow,
central disk. The involucre is 12 to 15 mm tall, with lance-oblong to ovate
bracts.
Habitat:
Woolly dwarf sunflower is found in dry, mostly wooded slopes within its range.
Range:
Woolly dwarf sunflower is found from Lake and Klamath Counties in south-central
Oregon south through Nevada and California.
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Additional images of woolly dwarf sunflower as seen along Forest Road #3615, North Warner Mountains, Fremont National Forest..........June 12, 2016.
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Woolly dwarf sunflower blooming in vernally wet areas along Forest Road 4011 several hundred yards below the trailhead for the Crane Mountain Trail, Fremont-Winema National Forest......June 30, 2019. The photo at lower right also shows mountain big sage (Artemisia tridentata var. vaseyana) and wavyleaf paintbrush (Castilleja applegatei var. pinetorum).
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Woolly dwarf sunflower blooming at left along FS Road 28 in private timberlands between Roads 30 and 3219, surrounded by the Fremont-Winema National Forest........June 17, 2020. The photo at right shows woolly dwarf sunflower blooming along Forest Road 3915 about 2 miles north of the California border in the Mount Bidwell Recreation Area, Fremont-Winema National Forest......July 17, 2022.
Woolly dwarf sunflower from Cottonwood Meadows, Fremont N.F.........July
15, 1998.
The photo above shows the basal leaf of woolly dwarf sunflower.
The photo above shows the involucral bracts of woolly dwarf sunflower.
Paul Slichter