Stats

Lifespan

Perennial

Size

Medium

Diet

Photosynthetic

Biome

Mediterranean shrubland

Range

North America

Movement

Sessile

Breeding

Seeds

Defense

Toxins

Status

Uncommon

About

Thick-leaved Yerba Santa is a native California shrub with leathery leaves coated in dense white wool on their undersides, built to survive the dry slopes of coastal sage scrub and chaparral. Indigenous Chumash and other peoples brewed its sticky, aromatic leaves into a medicinal tea for coughs, asthma, and respiratory ailments.

Life cycle

1. 1.
   seed

   A dormant seed waits for water and warmth before germinating.
2. 2.
   sprout

   A first shoot emerges with cotyledon leaves and a tap root reaching down.
3. 3.
   sapling

   A young plant grows true leaves and a stem or trunk, putting on height each season.
4. 4.
   mature

   Fully grown, flowering or fruiting at adult size.

Learn more

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Taxonomy

Kingdom

Plantae

Phylum

Tracheophyta

Class

Magnoliopsida

Order

Boraginales

Family

Boraginaceae

Genus

Eriodictyon

Species

Eriodictyon crassifolium