Trichostema lanatum

Trichostema lanatum, also known as woolly bluecurls,^[1] is a small evergreen shrub or sub-shrub native to arid coastal chaparral regions of California down to the northern tip of Baja California, Mexico.

Trichostema lanatum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Asterids
Order:	Lamiales
Family:	Lamiaceae
Genus:	Trichostema
Species:	T. lanatum
Binomial name
Trichostema lanatum Benth.

Description

Trichostema lanatum is many-branched and grows to 1.5 m (5 ft) tall, with narrow, pointed green leaves. The smooth-petaled blue flowers are borne in dense clusters, with the stem and calyces covered in woolly hairs of blue, pink, or white. Flowers are present from March to June.^[2]

Spanish explorers in California called the plant romero, the Spanish term for rosemary, and that common name is still sometimes used in Mexico.^[3]

Uses

Trichostema lanatum is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and several cultivars have been developed.^[3] It attracts hummingbirds and bumblebees.^[4]

Native Americans used it for a variety of medicinal and other purposes.^[5]

Its leaves and flowers make a flavorful tea.^[3]

Indigenous medicinal use

Trichostema lanatum was incorporated by the Chumash to help facilitate the healing process of menstruation and birth, as well as a general disinfectant and treatment for rheumatism.^[6] When tested against an E.Coli ▵tolC mutant, the plant exhibited anti-bacterial properties.^[7][8] Studies have also shown anti-inflammatory properties against pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-ɑ and anti-bacterial properties against macrophages and gram-postivie bacteria.^[9]

This species and Trichostema lanceolatum, a related species, were both also used by other California Indigenous tribes in the form of tea or crushed leaves to treat a range of ailments including common olds, body aches, skin disorders, digestive problems, and malaria.^[10] The two species differ in smell, anatomy, and location found.^[11][12] Indigenous tribes used T. lanatum to treat the same ailments as T. lanceolatum.^[10] Woolly bluecurls and other native plants have historically been used by Indigenous peoples in a holistic approach to medical care, which typically considers patient health and well-being at the intersection of biology, psychology, and culture, and manipulating the biochemical properties of native plants to treat the ailment.^[13]

Future studies of woolly bluecurls and other plants used by Indigenous peoples for medicinal purposes will need to focus on the use of such plants in a broader cultural system of care. Such work can be challenging, given the historical, systematic erasure of Indigenous wisdom that has been a primary function of settler colonialism.