Boraginaceae: Borage Family — Emmenanthe & Eriodictyon
Most members of the Borage family have their flowers arranged in coiled (scorpiod) cymes. These flower from the base upwards, gradually unfurling like a scorpion’s tail or caterpillar, as new flowers emerge.
Whispering Bells – Emmenanthe penduliflora var. penduliflora
Blooms:
Apr–July
Plant Height:
10–50 cm
Flower Size:
Small
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
A fire follower, also found on recently disturbed ground such as shale slopes
Notes:
Generally many branched with a loose growth habit. Leaves are simple, toothed to pinnately lobed. There are clusters of pale lemon, bell-shaped flowers, more or less erect in bud but becoming pendulous as the flowers mature.
Pink-flowered Whispering Bells – Emmenanthe penduliflora var. rosea
Blooms:
Apr–June
Plant Height:
5–85 cm
Flower Size:
Small
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
Talus slopes or rocky or sandy soils
Notes:
Much less common than the yellow-flowered Whispering Bells (var. penduliflora, see above), the flowers are typically pink, much paler inside than out. White flowers are occasionally found. The stem and leaf axes are commonly reddish. Leaves may be toothed or pinnately lobed.
California Yerba Santa – Eriodictyon californicum
Blooms:
Apr–July
Plant Height:
0.6–2.5 m
Flower Size:
Medium
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
Dry slopes
Notes:
Shrub, with clusters of funnel-shaped white to purplish flowers, 6–10 mm long. The leaves are up to 15 cm, narrow, oblong to lanceolate, entire and toothed and covered in a sticky resin.
Woolly Yerba Santa – Eriodictyon tomentosum
Blooms:
May–July
Plant Height:
1–3 m
Flower Size:
Small cluster
Origin:
Native
Habitat:
Dry slopes, mainly inland and in Santa Lucias
Notes:
Like California Yerba Santa (Eriodictyon californicum, see above), this is a shrub with leaves about the same size and shape, but is otherwise quite different. Both twigs and leaves are covered in dense white-woolly hairs giving it a silvery-blue to -gray appearance. Leaves are entire to coarsely toothed. Flowers are in dense fuzzy bunches of coiled, tiny, very light lavender to white, glandular, urn-shaped flowers.
