Calliandra eriophylla Benth.

vernacular fairyduster — species · Fabaceae

USDA: CAER
GBIF: 2982181
Rank: species

fairyduster (Calliandra eriophylla) — Platephotograph · Kevin W SmithCC BY-NC source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Subshrub
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Fabaceae Lindl.
Genus: Calliandra

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Native

§2b

County-level range

· 13 counties across 1 state

Legend Native · 13 Introduced · 0 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: High
Shade: High
Moisture use: Low
Fire: None
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: High
Hedging: High

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: 28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 240 min.
Precipitation: 2–10 in/yr
pH range: 7–8.5
Root depth: 12 in min.
Fertility need: Low
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Multiple Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 3 ft
Height @ 20 y: 1 ft
Foliage texture: Fine
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Porous
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: Purple
Fruit colour: Brown
Fire resistant: Yes
N fixation: Low
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Early Spring
Seed abundance: Medium
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Moderate
Stratify: No
Seeds / lb: 24,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Field Collections Only
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: High
Palatable, human: No
Protein potential: Medium
Lumber: No
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 13 counties across 1 state.

Arizona view state ↗ 13 N ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/CAER ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/2982181 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T05:06:36Z