Woolly Bluestar

Description

Amsonia tomentosa is a species of flowering plant native to the southwestern United States (S California, S Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, W Texas) and northern Mexico (Chihuahua). Its common names include woolly bluestar and gray amsonia. Amsonia tomentosa is a short, woody plant with many erect stems rarely reaching half a meter in height. The plant has two forms, a green glabrous (hairless) form, and a gray woolly form. The leaves are oval but pointed, and about 3 centimeters long. The flowers are white with a green or blue tint. They are tubular at the base and have flat faces with five petals. The flowers often come clumped in a cyme inflorescence. The fruits are podlike follicles that may separate into sections, each bearing a seed. Amsonia is a genus of flowering plants in the dogbane family, Apocynaceae, first described as a genus in 1788. It is native primarily to North America with one species in East Asia and another in the eastern Mediterranean. It was named in honor of the American physician John Amson. Members of the genus are commonly known as bluestars.