Fremontodendron californicum
Scodie Mts., Kern Co., CA
May 1978
 

Fremontodendron californicum
Greenhorn Mts., Kern/Tulare Co., CA
North Fork Kern River
Photo by Clyde Golden, 29 June 2011

Fremontodendron californicum
East slope of Greenhorn Mts., ~ 5,000 ft;
Old State Rd., Kern Co., CA
CNPS Chapter Field Trip, 29 May 2014

Fremontodendron californicum
Tehachapi Mts. above Bear Springs Valley
7 June 2012

Trees and Shrubs of Kern County (Jan 2013)

Fremontodendron californicum (Fremontia californica Torrey 1853) Coville 1893. Flannel bush (also classified in Sterculiaceae). Shrub or tree; stems often many arising from near base, to 5+ m; leaves simple, alternate, generally heart-shaped with undulating lobes, green above, densely golden below; flowers Apr–Jul, yellow (sepals); ovary 4–5-celled; fruit a loculicidal capsule, opening by 4–5 valves, stiff hairy.  California woodlands and open chaparral on rocky slopes to western slopes of desert regions, 2,500–7,000 ft; from just north of Redding south to Sierra San Pedro Mártir in Baja California.  Type from “sources of the Sacramento, in the northern part of the Sierra Nevada.”  Kern Co.: Common throughout the woodland and forest regions, often on rocky slopes, 518–2,287 m.  Contact with hairs on this plant may cause an allergic reaction.  Infusion of bark used to relieve irritation of the throat (Krochmal et al. 1954). Two other species in the genus occur in California, Baja California and Arizona.

Wilkinson S. M., M. H. Beck, J. S. English and C. R. Lovell. 1994. Contact dermatitis from Fremontodendron. Contact Dermatitis 31(3): 192–193.