Field journal

Yerba santa in bloom among the lupine

San Domingo

  • A shrub with long, narrow, toothed leaves on reddish stems holds clusters of small pale lavender flowers, in a grassy opening dotted with blue lupine spikes.

    Yerba santa, probably Eriodictyon californicum, flowering among lupine in a grassy opening.

  • Narrow-leaved shrubs covered in small pale flowers fill the foreground, above a deep canyon of dense oak and pine forest under heavy gray clouds.

    Flowering shrubs on the slope above the forested canyon, on a cloudy afternoon.

On a cloudy afternoon on April 26, shrubs with long, toothed leaves and clusters of pale lavender flowers were in bloom on the open slopes at San Domingo Arbory, among scattered blue lupine (Lupinus sp.). From the leaves and flowers, they are probably yerba santa (Eriodictyon californicum), a native shrub of the foothills.

Below them, the slope dropped away to a canyon of dense oak and pine forest. The shrubs are part of the mix of chaparral, open ground and forest across the site.

Theme Monitoring biodiversity

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