Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Ehrendorferia chrysantha (syn. Dicentra chrysantha) is a species of flowering plant in the Fumariaceae, a family of showy wildflowers sometimes included in the Papaveraceae, the poppies. Its common name is golden eardrops. This plant is native to California and Baja California, where it lives in dry, brushy areas and thrives on periodic chaparral wildfire. This is a somewhat bushy taprooted perennial herb which may reach 1.5 meters in height. It has many tall, smooth stems with long waxy pale leaves which are divided into many lobes and leaflets. Atop each branch of each stem is a panicle of bright yellow aromatic flowers. Each flower has curving, pointed outer petals sculpted outward from the center of the flower, which is covered by a ridge made up of the inner petals. The fruit is a capsule one or two centimeters long.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

2 - 5 ft Tall

Calscape icon
Color

Yellow

Sun

Full Sun

Propagation

For propagating by seed: Fire treatment. Soaking in 400 ppm GA3 24 hrs. may give better germination (Betty Atwater, personal communication 1981).

Sunset Zones

7*, 8, 9, 14*, 15, 16, 17, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22, 23, 24

Site type

Dry slopes

Plant communities

Chaparral, Foothill Woodland, Yellow Pine Forest

Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 1 likely

Confirmed Likely

Clodius Parnassian

Parnassius clodius