Santolina chamaecyparissus
Common name: 
Lavender Cotton
Pronunciation: 
san-to-LEEN-a ka-mie-sip-pa-RIS-is
Family: 
Asteraceae
Genus: 
Santolina
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Herbaceous evergreen shrublet, erect or ascending, 1-2 ft (30-60 cm) high, greater width, thick, spreading mound, fine texture.  Leaves alternate, pinnately compound (very tiny leaflets), silver-green to gray-green, 2-4 cm long, narrow (1.3 mm wide), highly aromatic when crushed.  Flowers yellow, button-like, 13 mm wide, rise above the foliage on 10-15 cm stalks, bloom in June, showy.   Fruit a brown pod, 13 mm, unattractive.
  • Sun, tolerant of any well-drained soil, grows in climate regions from the coast to the desert. It does not respond well to frequent watering and it can be sheared
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native to southern Europe, cultivated at least from 1596.   Several cultivar developed, some are smaller forms, e.g., ‘Nana’, to 1 ft (30 cm); ‘Pretty Carol’, to 16 inches (40 cm).
  • Santolina: from sanctum linum, holy flax, the old name for S. virens.   chamaecyparissus: from the Greek, chamai: dwarf, kuparissos: cypress
  • Corvallis: northeast corner of Central Park.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit, summer flowering

    plant habit, summer flowering

  • flowers

    flowers

  • plant habit, spring (before flowering)

    plant habit, spring (before flowering)

  • plant habit, spring (before flowering)

    plant habit, spring (before flowering)

  • branches

    branches