Yerba mansa is a California native, occurring in Southern
California along seeps, stream edges and wet meadows,
particularly where the soil is alkaline. It has light green
leaves which form rosettes of foliage about 6" tall. The plant
spreads by sending out long runners in the same way as
strawberries. In moist alkaline soils, large colonies of plants
are soon formed. In late spring, curious cones of flowers are
produced which stand about 3-4" above the foliage. Each "cone"
is, in fact, a tight collection of masses of tiny greenish
flowers. Although yerba mansa thrives in soils with a high pH,
it's very tolerant of neutral and slightly acidic soils. It is
also quite tolerant of infrequent watering and fairly dry soils,
although it does look better with an ample supply of water.
Yerba mansa is tolerant of full sun in cool coastal conditions.
However, it prefers light shade. Yerba mansa will probably
survive occasional winter temperatures down to 20°F. In the
nursery, it has survived twelve consecutive nights o