How to Grow and Care for Yerba Santa

Yerba santa is a member of the borage family native to the west coast of North America. Its common name means "Californian sacred herb." It is one of the first plants to resume growth after a wildfire because seeds in the ground will still germinate after a fire has passed through. Yerba santa is good to use in mass planting projects to revegetate overgrazed fields.

Thickleaf Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon crassifolium) is an evergreen summer-deciduous shrub native to California and Oregon. It can grow up to 3.5 m tall in one growing season. Fragrant lavender flowers bloom in spring, attract hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies, and are the sole food source for the Variable Checkerspot butterfly.

Eriodictyon tomentosum is a shrub reaching a maximum height of one to three meters. Its twigs and foliage are covered in a dense coat of white woolly hairs, giving the bush a silvery look. The leaves are oval and up to ten centimeters long and five wide, and they may have small teeth along the edges.

Hairy yerba santa is a small to medium-sized perennial shrub adorned with lance-shaped leaves, exhibiting a distinctive coat of dense woolly hairs. The plant's leaf texture reflects its adaptation to dry environments, conserving moisture and warding off herbivores. During its blooming season, hairy yerba santa produces clusters of purple flowers that serve as a magnet for pollinators, contributing to the survival and propagation of the species in its native habitats.

Eriodictyon trichocalyx is a shrub growing erect up to about 2 meters tall, with lance-shaped to oval leaves up to 14 cm long. They are hairless and resinous to densely woolly. The inflorescence is a cluster of white to light purple bell-shaped flowers.