Eriodictyon trichocalyx var. lanatum

San diego yerba santa, San Diego Yerba Santa

Family: Namaceae · Type: shrub · Native

San diego yerba santa is a California native shrub found in the Peninsular Ranges and western edge of the Sonoran Desert in slopes, mesas, ravines, chaparral, woodland, and open pine forest at elevations of 300 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces pale flowers with a distinctive hairy texture. Growing with stems covered in long, wavy hairs, it forms a robust shrubby structure reaching several meters tall. Its leaves are particularly notable, with sparse long hairs on the upper surface and a dense white woolly underside that nearly obscures the leaf veins. The plant's distinctive white-tomentose foliage and wavy-hairy stems make it a striking component of its dry, rugged habitat.

Habitat: Slopes, mesas, ravines, chaparral, woodland, open pine forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 300-2200 m

Bioregions: PR, w edge DSon

California counties: San Diego, Imperial, Riverside, San Bernardino, Los Angeles

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