Garrya elliptica

Coast silk tassel

Family: Garryaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Coast silk tassel is a California native shrub found in northern coastal, Klamath Range, northern coastal redwood, northern Sierra Nevada foothill, and central western regions in seacliffs, sand dunes, chaparral, and foothill-pine woodland at elevations below 800 meters. Flowering from January to March, this plant produces white to grayish flowers in distinctive hanging catkin-like clusters. Growing up to 8 meters tall with a spreading, multi-stemmed form, it develops dense, wavy-margined elliptical leaves with curly, interwoven hairs on the underside. Its leaves are broadly elliptical, 18 to 107 millimeters long, with margins often rolled under and appearing slightly scalloped or toothed. The shrub produces dense, hairy fruits in clusters up to 28 millimeters wide, creating a distinctive winter landscape presence.

Habitat: Seacliffs, sand dunes, chaparral, foothill-pine woodland

Bloom period: Jan-Mar

Elevation: < 800 m

Bioregions: NCo, KR, NCoRO, n SNF, CW (exc SCoRI)

California counties: Marin, Monterey, Santa Clara, Mendocino, Sonoma, Ventura, Alameda, Napa, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, San Luis Obispo, Humboldt, Del Norte, Santa Barbara, Kern, Los Angeles, El Dorado, Shasta, Contra Costa, Glenn, San Benito, Tehama, Siskiyou, Trinity, Lake, Yolo, Riverside

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