Dunbar Spring Neighborhood_Calliandra eriophylla

Family: Asteraceae

 

Common Names:

 

  • English: pink fairy duster
  • Spanish: huajillo 
  • O'odham: Cu:wĭĭwuipo

 

Scientific Name: Calliandra eriophylla

 

Rain Garden Zone: C. eriophyllla thrives in the top rain garden zone. 

 

Reproduced with permission from "Rainwater Harvesting for Drylands and Beyond" by Brad Lancaster, HarvestingRainwater.com

 

Flowering Season: Spring

 

Characteristics: C. eriophylla is a small, densely branched, deciduous shrub growing up to 3 feet tall (1). Light gray stems produce fern-like leaves with a medium green color (1). Flowers are delicate puffballs with pink color (1).

 

Landscape Cultivation: The shrub is quite hardy, low water use and cold hardy (down to 15oF). Commonly found growing on dry, gravelly slopes and along sandy washes, the shrub prefers full sun, but may also grow in partial shade (1).

 

Ethnobotany:

Wildlife:

Many animals feed on the plant: deer feed on the foliage, while birds such as cactus wrens, quails and finches eat the dried flowers and seeds (2). Native pollinators including hummingbirds, butterflies and bees are attracted to the flowers (2).

Ecological:

The shrub provides shelter for small animals and may also assist in soil erosion control (3).

Other:

Shavings of the fairy duster are sometimes used among the Tarahumara as a fixing agent in the preparation of a yellow dye made from Acacia farnesiana flowers (4). 

 

 

References:

  1. UA Campus Arboretum
  2. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center
  3. Kearney, Thomas H., Robert H. Peebles, and collaborators. (1951) Arizona Flora.  University of California Press.
  4. Ebeling, Walter. (1986) Handbook of Indian Foods and Fibers of Arid America. University of California Press.

To learn more about this species, see the Campus Arboretum species description page.