Hansen's Northwest Native Plant Database

Photo by Wayfarer 73

A very attractive low-spreading evergreen shrub with rounded top, reaches 2 to 7 feet high.

Bark is smooth. Leaves are gray-green on top and rusty-gold on the underneath side.

Blooming in June, the flower is green and insignificant, can be ill-smelling. Burs are similar to chestnut.

It occurs naturally in mountainous regions of California and southern Oregon along the Pacific Coast from the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains north through the Coast Ranges to southwestern Oregon where it forms partnerships with:

• Greenleaf Manzanita (Arctostaphylos patula)
• Mountain Whitethorn (Ceanothus cordulatus)
• Snowbrush Ceanothus (Ceanothus viscidiflorus)

On the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Range, it shares space with Western Juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) and other shrubs.

As for location, this shrub prefers coarse textured gravelly or rocky soils in full sun. It is drought tolerant.

Photo below center by Joe Decruyenaere at Owens Valley in California.