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| Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii; yellow flowers) Mother Nature's Backyard |
Last
month we featured one of our loveliest silvery foliage plants – Perityle incana. This month the whitest of them all, Catalina
silverlace (Nevin's Wooly Sunflower), is blooming for the first time. It simply begged us to be featured as our
Plant of the Month.
Like Perityle
incana, Constancea nevinii is a member of the Sunflower family (Asteraceae), one of the largest plant
families in California. It was
originally named Eriophyllum nevinii (in the genus
containing other native Wooly Sunflowers) and can still be found by that name
at some nurseries. Studies of plant DNA
revealed that Catalina silverlace shares no common ancestor with the other Wooly
sunflowers – in fact, it’s a more distant cousin. In 2000 it was renamed in honor of Lincoln
Constance, a well-known plant taxonomist, university administrator and former
director of the UC Berkeley Herbarium.
The genus Constancea is
monotypic; it contains a single species, Constancea nevinii.
For more about Lincoln Constance see: http://www.calflora.net/botanicalnames/pageCI-CY.html#Constancea
As
with other Wooly sunflowers, Constancea
nevinii has an extremely limited natural range, being found only on the
Southern Channel Islands (San Clemente and Santa Catalina Islands) and the
Northern Santa Barbara Island. The
Channel Islands, located just off the coast of central and southern California,
are places of great biologic interest.
Like most islands, they contain unique species due to their separation from mainland
populations. But the Channel Islands
have several other unique features.
Located
at the edge of a tectonic plate, the Channel Islands have experienced extensive
movement over millions of years, resulting in unique geologic and soil profiles.
As sea levels rose and fell, they were joined
and separated from the mainland several times, allowing for species exchange. Their close proximity has facilitated human
visitation/habitation for at least thousands of years, resulting in further
exchange of seeds/plants between islands and the mainland.
The
combination of these factors makes the California Channel Islands unique in their
flora, fauna and geology; they are currently the subject of great scientific
interest. Unfortunately, many of the endemic
species are now extremely rare, often due to human actions like hunting,
farming and grazing. Feral goats have
played a particularly destructive role on several islands; their removal has
been an important step in preserving native plants. Interestingly, several island plant species (including
Constancea nevinii) are well suited
to gardens and are now used extensively in Southern California mainland gardens.
Catalina
silverlace, a sub-shrub with woody stem, stands 2-5 ft. tall and at least as
wide. It closely resembles the ‘Dusty
Miller’ (Jacobaea maritima/Senecio cineraria), a plant long favored for its white foliage and drought
tolerance. While Jacobaea maritima hails from the western/central Mediterranean
region, it shares more than a superficial resemblance with Catalina
silverlace. Both grow in coastal areas,
often on rocky coastal bluffs, in areas with a mediterranean climate. Not surprisingly, both are known for their
heat, salt and drought tolerance. The
two plants represent similar solutions to a shared set of environmental
conditions.
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| Foliage of Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii) For comparison with Perityle incana see July, 2014 |
Catalina silverlace has a mounded, slowly spreading
growth habit. Its long leaves are finely
dissected (see above) giving them a delicate fern-like appearance. The foliage is covered with dense, wooly
white hairs, making the foliage appear almost white. These
features help plants survive hot dry summers and are shared with species from
other dry climates. The low, mounded
growth habit is often found among plants growing right on the coast. This form is particularly suited to the wind
and salt spray that dominate coastal landscapes.
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| Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii) in bloom |
California has native ‘sunflowers’ that bloom from
early spring to late fall; Constancea nevinii is a mid-season
bloomer. It may flower anytime from
April to August depending on weather conditions. In our experience, adequate winter moisture
is required for a good bloom season.
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| Flowers, Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii) |
The flowers are bright yellow, adding a cheerful
note to the summer garden. On closer
inspection, the flowers reveal their sunflower nature. Flowers have central disk flowers surrounded
by a few, very short yellow ray flowers (look like petals). The individual flowers are small, but the
heads are arranged in clusters of 20 to 50 on stalks above the foliage. The entire effect is showy as seen in the
photo above.
Catalina silverlace is a good habitat plant. Pollinator insects are attracted by the
flower’s sweet nectar and pollen. Expect
to see European Honey Bees, native bees, flower flies, butterflies and others
visiting the flowers. Seed-eating birds
enjoy the seeds and small animals like lizards will shelter beneath the
foliage.
Like the native bluckwheats, Catalina silverlace
retains its beauty long after the flowering season has ended. The flowering stalks, bracts and seeds turn a
lovely dark brown that contrasts exquisitely with the white foliage. In fact, many gardeners consider fall to be
the prettiest season for this shrub. The
seeds are dry achenes that spread by wind.
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| Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii) in fall. |
The ‘Island Silver’ cultivar is often available in local
native plant nurseries. A natural
variant from Santa Barbara Island, ‘Island Silver’ was introduced by the Santa
Barbara Botanic Garden and has grown there since the early 1980’s. It has very white foliage and all the other
characteristics that make this species so attractive. It does well in local gardens and is a good
alternative to the straight species.
Catalina
silverlace is fairly undemanding in its requirements. It prefers full sun along the coast, but is
best with a little afternoon shade in hotter inland gardens. It is not frost
hardy and can be damaged – even killed – by frost. If you garden inland where frosts occur be
sure to read our discussion last month: http://mother-natures-backyard.blogspot.com/2014/07/plant-of-month-july-guadalupe-island.html
Although
preferring a well-drained soil, Constancea
nevinii can be grown in clays. If
your soil is dense and compacted, try growing it on a slope or berm. Once established, it needs very little
supplemental water except in dry winters/springs. In Mother Nature’s Backyard
we water it once or twice from May to August. Plants will become leggy if not pruned back
regularly in late fall or winter. For
fall pruning, remove spend flowering stalks and prune back the leafy stems, leaving
2-3 sets of new leaves. This will result
in a nice, mounded habit.
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| Catalina silverlace (Constancea (Eriophyllum) nevinii) against a backdrop of Littleleaf Mountain Mahogany. Native Plant Garden, Madrona Marsh Nature Center, Torrance CA. |
Gardeners
from wetter climates often envy our native foliage plants – particularly those
with very light-colored leaves. Use
Catalina silverlace to best advantage by growing it against an evergreen
background of Toyon, Coffeeberry, Lemonadeberry, Sugarbush or Ceanothus (see
above). We also like to highlight spring annuals by
growing them against a background of Constancea
nevinii.
The
size and shape of Catalina silverlace make it a natural choice as an informal
hedge or path border; it also functions well as a low foundation plant or in
planters. It is relatively deer-tolerant and is good in fire-prone areas. Consider planting it with California fuschia
(Epilobium canum), Cleveland sage (Salvia clevelandii), native buckwheats (Eriogonum species) and native
grasses. It provides a touch white in a
silver garden and is an elegant addition to a habitat garden. And it is a constant reminder of the special –
and rare - plants native to our coastal
islands.
For a
gardening information sheet see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/gardening-sheet-constancea-nevinii
For more
pictures of this plant see: http://www.slideshare.net/cvadheim/constancea-nevinii-web-show
For plant
information sheets on other native plants see: http://nativeplantscsudh.blogspot.com/p/gallery-of-native-plants_17.html
We
welcome your comments (below). You can
also send your questions to: mothernaturesbackyard10@gmail.com
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