California Beeplant, California Figwort
Lush and handsome native medicinal for shady spots. Attracts bees, hummingbirds, beneficial insects. Rare in commerce, this streamside plant is perennial and forms colonies in shady, moist spots. Big, stately plants look like a giant deep green mint, but have no minty scent. Give them good soil in shade, and they will bloom all summer with hundreds of little red flowers like tiny snapdragons, followed by candelabras of seed capsules that are handsome in dried arrangements. Runner-forming like mint. Has been used for centuries as an anti-inflammatory and as a first-aid poultice for wounds and infections. To 6 feet by the end of summer, dying back to the roots after frost. Start tiny seeds by tamping down the soil firmly in a pot, scatter the seeds, and press onto the surface. Keep moist until germination. Scrofularia califonica. Seeds gathered from my herb garden. 200 seeds