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Malvaceae
Flannel Bush
Fremontodendron californicum
California's golden abundance.
- Family
- Malvaceae
- Genus
- Fremontodendron
- Native to
- California, Arizona, Baja California
- Bloom season
- Spring, Summer
- Type
- evergreen shrub
- Height
- 6-20 ft
- Sunlight
- full sun
- Soil
- dry, well-drained, poor, rocky
- Water
- low
- Hardiness
- 8-10
- Lifespan
- perennial
Did you know
- Flannel bush produces spectacular 2–3 inch wide golden-yellow flowers that are not petals but sepals — the true petals are absent or vestigial, and the entire showy display is provided by the five waxy sepal lobes.
- All parts of the plant are covered in star-shaped (stellate) hairs that break off and irritate skin, eyes, and mucous membranes on contact — handling the plant without gloves causes intense itching that can last hours.
- The species was named for the explorer John C. Frémont, who collected specimens during his surveys of California in the 1840s — Frémont also gave his name to Frémont cottonwood and Frémont's pincushion plant.
- Flannel bush requires absolutely no summer irrigation once established — in fact, summer water is the most common cause of its death in cultivation, reflecting its dry chaparral origins.
- In California chaparral, flannel bush is a fire-follower: seeds lie dormant in the soil for years, requiring the heat of a fire to crack the hard seed coat, and populations explode spectacularly in the first spring after a chaparral fire.
Color meanings
0
abundance
1
resilience
2
golden warmth