Eriogonum giganteum

St. catherine's-lace

Family: Polygonaceae · Type: shrub · Native

St. catherine's-lace is a California native shrub found in coastal southern California habitats at elevations of 100 to 1,000 meters. Flowering from June to September, this plant produces white to rose-colored flowers in large, delicate clusters up to 50 centimeters wide, creating an intricate, lace-like appearance. Growing with robust stems 3 to 6 feet tall, it develops a distinctive tomentose (woolly) texture that softens its structural form. Its leaves are broadly oval, 2 to 7 centimeters long and 1 to 5 centimeters wide, covered in a soft, grayish-white felt-like indumentum that gives the plant a silvery-gray aesthetic. The fruit is small, approximately 2 to 3.5 millimeters long, and develops after the spectacular floral display.

California counties: Los Angeles, Inyo, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, Monterey, Alameda, Contra Costa, Orange, 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.