Eriodictyon capitatum

Lompoc yerba santa

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2 · Endangered

Lompoc yerba santa is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in southern Central Coast, southern South Coast Ranges, and western Transverse Ranges in Santa Barbara County, inhabiting ravines, mesas, chaparral, and Bishop-pine woodland at elevations of 40 to 900 meters. Flowering from April to July, this plant produces lavender flowers in dense head-like clusters up to 2.5 centimeters wide with distinctive long-hairy calyx lobes. Growing less than 3 meters tall with sticky, glabrous twigs, it forms a distinctive shrubby structure. Its narrow linear leaves are 4 to 9 centimeters long, strongly rolled under at the margins, sticky on the upper surface, and densely woolly on the lower surface. Its funnel-shaped lavender flowers feature corolla tubes 6 to 15 millimeters long, densely hairy on the exterior.

Habitat: Ravines, mesas, chaparral, Bishop-pine woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jul

Elevation: 40-900 m

Bioregions: s CCo, s SCoRO, w WTR (Santa Barbara Co. endemic).

California counties: Santa Barbara

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