Eriodictyon sessilifolium

Sessile-leaved yerba santa, Sessile-Leaved Yerba Santa

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 2B.1

Sessile-leaved yerba santa is a rare California native shrub ranked 2B.1 by CNPS, found in southwestern Peninsular Ranges near Poway in San Diego County in grassland, chaparral, and disturbed areas at elevations of 25 to 880 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces lilac-purple flowers in funnel-shaped corollas 12 to 15 millimeters long. Growing 1 to 3 meters tall with twigs covered in coarse and glandular hairs, it forms a distinctive shrub with an irregular branching pattern. Its sessile leaves are oblanceolate to oblong, 6 to 12 centimeters long and 2 to 5 centimeters wide, with coarse teeth and a slightly rolled margin, sparse hairs on the upper surface, and dense glandular hairs along the veins. The fruit is approximately 5 millimeters long and covered in coarse hairs.

Habitat: Slopes, ridges, ravines, disturbed areas, grassland, chaparral

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 25-880 m

Bioregions: sw PR (one locality near Poway, San Diego Co.).

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