Click on the image thumbnail to the right to enlarge -›››

Anemopsis californica –Saururaceae - ‘Yerba Mansa.' - The only California representative of the tiny ‘Lizard-Tail Family,' a family with only 7 species worldwide, this wonderful medicinal herb has more garden adaptability than most herbalists give it credit for. It is uncommonly seen in the wild, but native to a wide area of the Southwest, from alkaline swamps in the San Joaquin valley to creekside meadows in the mountains of Arizona. It does best in nature growing in a moist soil, with sun on the tops and water on the roots. Listed by United Plant Savers as a substitute antimicrobial for the endangered Goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis), the roots do indeed smell and perform like that plant, but Yerba Mansa is much easier to grow in ordinary garden conditions than the northeastern forest dwelling Goldenseal.

It grows with 6" diameter plants, spreading with leap-frogging stolons (stems that grow horizontally with plants at the tip) like Strawberries, filling in to make a patch. Each mature plant is topped with long-lasting beautiful white Anemone-like flowers. It also can perform quite well in a pot or a flat, but you need to bend the far-ranging stolons back into the soil. The seed for this strain comes originally from 4000' elevation in the Cuyamaca Mountains of San Diego County, and can take some frost and snow, but is probably best kept above 14º F. In the garden it prefers sun and regularly watered soil.