Pickeringia montana var. tomentosa

Woolly chaparral pea, Woolly Chaparral Pea

Family: Fabaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Woolly chaparral pea is a California native shrub found in southern California's Transverse Ranges and Peninsula Ranges in chaparral and washes at elevations below 1,700 meters. Flowering from May to August, this plant produces pale pink to magenta flowers with distinctive silky-hairy surfaces. Growing with dense, compact branches 1 to 2 meters tall, it forms a robust, woody shrub with a grayish-green appearance. Its leaves are pinnately compound with 3 to 5 leaflets, each densely covered in soft, woolly hairs that give the plant its distinctive tomentose texture. The plant produces abundant fruits, creating dense clusters of seed pods characteristic of its pea family lineage.

Habitat: Chaparral, washes

Bloom period: May-Aug

Elevation: < 1700 m

Bioregions: SnBr, PR

California counties: San Diego, San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange, Los Angeles, Napa

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