Monardella sheltonii

Coyote mint

Family: Lamiaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Coyote mint is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, southern Cascade Range, and northern Sierra Nevada in rocky openings, montane forest, oak woodland, and chaparral, often on serpentine soils at elevations of 425 to 1,600 meters. Flowering from June to August, this plant produces rich purple flowers in compact clusters 10 to 29 millimeters wide. Growing with erect, open stems 30 to 45 centimeters tall and spreading from a rhizomatous base, it forms a loose, somewhat glabrous subshrub. Its lanceolate leaves are 16 to 34 millimeters long, dark green on top, with densely puberulent undersides that give a soft, fine-textured appearance. The flower bracts are notable for being leaf-like, strongly reflexed, and extending beyond the calyx.

Habitat: Rocky openings, montane forest, oak woodland, chaparral, often serpentine

Bloom period: Jun-Aug

Elevation: 425-1600 m

Bioregions: KR, s CaR, n SN.

California counties: Humboldt, Yuba, Mariposa, Butte, Tulare, Nevada, El Dorado, Modoc, Santa Barbara, Plumas, Sierra, Placer, Calaveras, Alpine, Glenn, Amador, Fresno, Sacramento, Trinity, Tuolumne, Shasta, Siskiyou, Tehama, Lake, Lassen, Sonoma, San Benito, Colusa, Stanislaus

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