Menodora scabra

Rough menodora, Rough Menodora

Family: Oleaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Rough menodora is a California native perennial herb found in rocky or dry habitats at elevations across its range. Flowering from late spring to summer, this plant produces yellow flowers opening in the evening with a distinctive scent, often reddish in bud before fully blooming. Growing with multiple ascending or erect stems 20 to 50 centimeters tall rising from a woody base, it has a broom-like appearance with stems that are slightly angled and rough to the touch. Its leaves vary from linear to ovate, ranging 10 to 45 millimeters long, with lower stem leaves opposite and upper leaves becoming alternate. The fruit is circumscissile, releasing seeds that are generally obovate and three-sided with a deeply netted seed coat.

California counties: San Bernardino, San Diego, Inyo

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