Eriodictyon traskiae

Pacific yerba santa

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Pacific yerba santa is a California native shrub found in coastal and southern California habitats at low to moderate elevations. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white to lavender flowers in small clusters, with blossoms 6 to 10 millimeters long that are urn-shaped and slightly constricted at the throat. Growing to less than 2 meters tall, it has densely woolly (tomentose) twigs and branches that give the plant a soft, gray-green appearance. Its leaves are distinctive, measuring 3 to 14 centimeters long and 1 to 4 centimeters wide, with a lanceolate to elliptic shape, dense tomentose surface, and margins rolled underneath. The shrub's dense, hairy foliage and uniquely shaped flowers make it a characteristic element of its native coastal and southern California landscapes.

California counties: Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, San Diego

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