notes Plants in this series of photos were all from a patch growing on a steep slope of limestone-derived scree on east side of lower Cushenbury Canyon (lat/long 34.336692 -116.833028, elev. 5240'). Like other patches I encountered in the area (i.e this one just southeast of Cushenbury Springs; and this one 0.5 miles up the road to Monarch Flat) these plants had somewhat zygomorphic corollas with lots of short, radial, purplish-red streaks scattered somewhat randomly about the lobes (though concentrated at the base of the 3-lobed lip); sinuses cut at different depths; and generally unequal stamens attached deep at the bottom of the corolla throat that extended beyond the sinuses...from just a bit to a good fraction of the distance (proximal) to the lobe tips. The stamens were also generally arched outwards and often gathered together on one side of the interior of the corolla.
After first studying the Jepson eFlora Eriastrum treatment...and then (seeking further clarification in) Harrison(1972), and finally De Groot(2016)...it became more & more clear that these were characters associated with E. eremicum ssp. eremicum. However, the plants in the three patches I photographed had leaves simple or 2-lobed at the base, and the inflorescence stems and bracts seemed to have short somewhat glandular hairs...which suggested the alternate possibility of E. sapphirinum ssp. brevibracteatum per the (excellent and by far most detailed and richly nuanced!) treatment in De Groot(2016)...which was not yet completed when the Jepson eFlora treatment was written in 2015. The range maps in De Groot(2016) show records for both E. eremicum ssp. eremicum and E. sapphirinum ssp. brevibracteatum in the general area where I photographed these plants...but a perusal of the detailed collection records in the supplementary online ''Exsiccatae'' indicated 4 collection records for E. eremicum ssp. eremicum (including the first two here) very near the three sites I photographed these plants...but no comparably close records for E. sapphirinum ssp. brevibracteatum.
Both Harrison(1972) and De Groot(2016) emphasize that variation of taxa in Eriastrum can sometimes make it quite difficult to unambiguously place plants to species...and there may be more species not yet described. To my eye, the plants in my photos from the three patches in the lower Cushenbury Canyon area look rather dissimilar to those currently posted under both E. eremicum ssp. eremicum and E. sapphirinum. But after studying the above references, my best assessment here is presently E. eremicum ssp. eremicum.
