Helichrysum petiolare

Licorice plant

Family: Asteraceae · Type: perennial · Not Native

Conservation status: Cal-IPC Yes

Licorice plant is a naturalized perennial found in coastal California regions including the central and southern coastal areas in cultivated and disturbed landscapes at elevations below 200 meters. Flowering from July to August, this plant produces heads of small flowers in rounded or flat-topped clusters with creamy white phyllary tips. Growing with straggling or trailing stems up to 100 centimeters long that sometimes root where they touch the ground, it has a loosely branched structure covered in soft gray tomentose hair. Its leaves are silvery green, ovate to nearly round, measuring 1 to 3.5 centimeters long with widely tapered bases and obtuse tips. The fruit is approximately 1 millimeter long with 5 distinct ribs.

Habitat: Cultivated for ornament, escaped into coastal scrub, forest

Bloom period: Jul-Aug

Elevation: < 200 m

Bioregions: CCo, SCo

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