Amsonia tomentosa

Gray amsonia

Family: Apocynaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Gray amsonia is a California native perennial found in the northern slopes of the San Bernardno Mountains and desert regions at elevations of 300 to 1,800 meters in desert plains and canyons. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces white to blue flowers with a corolla tube about 15 millimeters long, slightly inflated above the middle. Growing with several to many stems emerging from a woody crown, the plant reaches 16 to 36 centimeters tall with few to many branches. Its leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters long, ovate-lanceolate in shape, and acute at both ends, with a short or absent petiole. The fruit develops 3 to 8 centimeters long and is often constricted between seeds, potentially breaking into individual seed segments.

Habitat: Desert plains, canyons

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: 300-1800 m

Bioregions: SnBr (n slope), D

California counties: Riverside, San Bernardino, Inyo, Los Angeles

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.