Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Xylorhiza orcuttii is a perennial plant in the aster family known by the common name Orcutt's aster. It is native to southern California and northern Baja California, where it grows in scrubby habitat in the dry canyons of the Sonoran Desert. It often grows in rocky and sandy substrates, clay, and alkaline soils amongst cactus. It is a shrub with branching, mostly hairless stems that may reach 1. 5 meters in length. The leaves are lance-shaped to oblong with smooth, toothed, or spiny edges. The inflorescence is a solitary flower head with up to 40 or more lavender or pale blue ray florets, each of which may measure over 3 centimeters in length. Flowering may begin as early as late fall or winter. The fruit is an achene which may be over a centimeter long, including its pappus of bristles.

Plant type

Perennial herb

Size

5 ft Tall

Growth rate

Fast

Fragrance

Pleasant

Calscape icon
Color

Lavender, Blue

Sun

Full Sun

Summer irrigation

Never irrigate once established

Cold tolerance

-

Soil drainage

Fast

Soil description

.
Soil PH: -

Plant communities

Creosote Bush Scrub

Bees
Caterpillars
Butterflies

Butterflies and moths supported

0 confirmed and 2 likely

Confirmed Likely

Sagebrush Checkerspot

Chlosyne acastus

Schinia ligeae