Eriodictyon crassifolium var. crassifolium

Thick-leaved yerba santa

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Thick-leaved yerba santa is a California native shrub found in southern California regions including the South Coast, Western Transverse Ranges, San Gabriel Mountains, and Peninsular Ranges in chaparral and woodland habitats at elevations of 15 to 1,520 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces white to lavender flowers with corollas 8 to 16 millimeters long. Growing with densely gray to white tomentose stems that completely obscure the dark underlying stem, it forms a robust shrubby structure. Its leaves are approximately ovate, covered in a dense gray to white felt-like tomentum that gives the plant a distinctive silvery appearance. The shrub thrives in varied landscapes, from rocky slopes and washes to river bottoms and open woodland areas.

Habitat: Slopes, roadsides, washes, river bottoms, mesas, chaparral, woodland

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 15-1520 m

Bioregions: SCo, WTR, SnGb, PR.

California counties: Riverside, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, Kern

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