Eriodictyon parryi

Poodle-dog bush

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Poodle-dog bush is a native shrub found in southern Sierra Nevada, Tehachapi, southern Coastal Ranges, Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, desert mountains including Panamint and Little San Bernardino Mountains, and the western edge of the Sonoran Desert at elevations of 120 to 2,440 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces blue, lavender, or purple flowers in dense clusters with funnel-shaped corollas 10 to 20 millimeters long. Growing as a dense, glandular subshrub with erect stems 1 to 3 meters tall and generally woody at the base, it develops stout, branching stems that are notably sticky and strong-scented. Its leaves are dense and sessile, ranging 4 to 30 centimeters long, lanceolate in shape, and may be entire or toothed with upper margins occasionally rolled under. The plant is particularly known for its sticky, glandular texture and tendency to colonize disturbed areas and burned landscapes.

Habitat: Generally disturbed areas, chaparral, dry granitic soils of slopes, ridges; often following fires

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: 120-2440 m

Bioregions: s SN, Teh, s SCoRO, TR, PR, DMtns (Panamint Range, Little San Bernardino Mtns), w edge DSon (rare)

California counties: Kern, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Inyo, Orange, Fresno, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Ventura, Tulare

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