About Lepechinia ganderi Epling
Lepechinia ganderi is a short aromatic shrub with slender branches covered in rough hairs and resin glands. Its leaves are lanceolate (lance-shaped) and may have serrate (toothed) edges. Its raceme inflorescence produces flowers on 1 to 2 cm long pedicels. Each flower has a base of long, pointed sepals beneath a white to light lavender tubular corolla, with a lipped mouth opening. After the corolla falls away, a small, dark, hairless fruit develops attached to the sepals. The flowers of this species are pollinated by bees and hummingbirds. This species is a near-endemic to southern San Diego County, California, and the adjacent border region of Baja California. It has around 20 known occurrences in the United States, many on federal land, while its Mexican populations have not been well studied. It grows across the coastal Peninsular Range foothills and mountains within this range, including Otay Mountain and the Jamul Mountains. It typically grows on rocky, metavolcanic gabbroic substrates. It can be found in habitats from coastal sage scrub and chaparral to closed-cone coniferous forest (such as Tecate cypress groves) and grasslands, at elevations between 500 and 1060 meters.
