Lavender Cotton Santolina chamaecyparissus
Other Common Name(s):
- Phonetic Spelling
- san-toh-LEE-nuh kam-ee-se-PAIR-is-sus
- Description
-
Good in small areas; good drought tolerance. Used in dried arrangement, potpourris and as an accent plant. Highly salt tolerant; avoid excess fertilization; prune after flowering. Branches are erect or ascending, gray-green-brown, densely white-tomentose at first.
Leaves are very small and appear 3-dimensional, not flat. The odor is strong and distinctive. Santolina chamaecyparissus blooms in summer; peduncles should be removed after flowering completely. Santolina chamaecyparissus is good for short term use in landscape (10-15 yrs) as center opens up with age. S. rosmarinifolia is similar, but green with lighter color in flowers. It is utilized as groundcover in massing, edging beds, planters, rock gardens, rock walls, on pure sand. It is used in folk medicine for digestive problems and as antiseptics.
Quick ID
- Dwarf aromatic, grayish-tomentose shrub
- Leaves 3-D pinnatifid or pinnatisect
- Elongate peduncles with heads of yellow flowers in summer
- See this plant in the following landscape:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
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- Nana
- Pretty Pink
- Nana
- Nana, Pretty Pink
- Tags:
- Cultivars / Varieties:
-
- Nana
- Pretty Pink
- Nana
- Nana, Pretty Pink
- Tags:
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Attributes:
- Genus:
- Santolina
- Species:
- chamaecyparissus
- Family:
- Asteraceae
- Uses (Ethnobotany):
- Has been used in potpourri.
- Life Cycle:
- Perennial
- Country Or Region Of Origin:
- S. Europe
- Play Value:
- Attractive Flowers
- Fragrance
- Dimensions:
- Height: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
- Width: 2 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 0 in.
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Whole Plant Traits:
- Plant Type:
- Ground Cover
- Herb
- Perennial
- Shrub
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Habit/Form:
- Broad
- Rounded
- Growth Rate:
- Medium
- Texture:
- Fine
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Cultural Conditions:
- Light:
- Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
- Soil Texture:
- Sand
- Soil Drainage:
- Good Drainage
- Occasionally Dry
- Very Dry
- USDA Plant Hardiness Zone:
- 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b
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Fruit:
- Display/Harvest Time:
- Fall
- Fruit Type:
- Achene
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Flowers:
- Flower Color:
- Gold/Yellow
- Gray/Silver
- White
- Flower Inflorescence:
- Head
- Flower Value To Gardener:
- Good Dried
- Showy
- Flower Bloom Time:
- Spring
- Flower Shape:
- Tubular
- Flower Size:
- < 1 inch
- Flower Description:
- Inflorescence are numerous, each a head on elongate 10-15 cm peduncles well above foliage, discoid, hemispherical (button-shaped), to 2 cm diam.; borne from new seasonal growth. Flowers are tubular, deep golden yellow. Yellow button-shaped heads in summer on new growth.
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Leaves:
- Woody Plant Leaf Characteristics:
- Broadleaf Evergreen
- Leaf Color:
- Gray/Silver
- Green
- Leaf Value To Gardener:
- Fragrant
- Leaf Arrangement:
- Alternate
- Leaf Shape:
- Pinnatisect
- Leaf Margin:
- Dentate
- Hairs Present:
- No
- Leaf Length:
- < 1 inch
- Leaf Description:
- Leaves are alternate, crowded, densely grey to white-tomentose, densely pectinate-dentate to pinnatisect, segments to 2 mm long. Leaves are aromatic when crushed.
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Stem:
- Stem Is Aromatic:
- No
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Landscape:
- Landscape Location:
- Recreational Play Area
- Landscape Theme:
- Children's Garden
- Resistance To Challenges:
- Salt
