All Plants > Drought Tolerant (62)

This list of drought-tolerant plants has been seeded from Calscape data on low-moisture plants. However, to clarify: drought tolerance is a term that applies to established plants. All new plantings should be watered during their first growing season.

Common Name
Scientific Name
Sun Reqs. Height Humboldt Native
© John Doyen
Common yarrow
Achillea millefolium
1 - 3 ft
© Eugene Zelenko
California buckeye
Aesculus californica
13.1 - 39.4 ft
© John Doyen
Pearly everlasting
Anaphalis margaritacea
3 - 4 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Madrone
Arbutus menziesii
15 - 100 ft
© Steve Matson
Kinnikinnick
Arctostaphylos uva-ursi
1.6 ft
© glrbrg
Sea thrift
Armeria maritima
1 ft
© John Doyen
Dune sagewort
Artemisia pycnocephala
1.6 ft
© John Doyen
Showy milkweed
Asclepias speciosa
4 - 6 ft
© John Doyen
Coyote brush
Baccharis pilularis
1.5 - 10 ft
Dwarf coyote brush
Baccharis pilularis 'pigeon point'
1 - 2 ft
© Steve Matson
Tall oregon grape
Berberis aquifolium
3.5 - 7 ft
© Mary Conway
Soap plant
Chlorogalum pomeridianum
3 ft
© Steve Matson
Yerba buena
Clinopodium douglasii
0.25 - 0.75 ft
© John Doyen
Chinese houses
Collinsia heterophylla
0.3 - 1.6 ft
© Steve Matson
Firecracker brodiaea
Dichelostemma ida-maia
1.6 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Wild hyacinth
Dichelostemma multiflorum
2.8 ft
© Steve Matson
Orange bush monkeyflower
Diplacus aurantiacus
3.9 - 5 ft
Canyon dudleya
Dudleya cymosa
0.25 - 0.5 ft
© John Doyen
Lanceleaf liveforever
Dudleya lanceolata
0.25 - 0.75 ft
© Robert Potts, California Academy of Sciences
Humboldt county fuchsia
Epilobium septentrionale
0.25 - 0.75 ft
© Steve Matson
Seaside daisy
Erigeron glaucus
0.16 - 1 ft
© Steve Matson
Sulphur buckwheat
Eriogonum umbellatum
0.33 - 7 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Common woolly sunflower
Eriophyllum lanatum
1 - 3.3 ft
© John Doyen
Seaside woolly sunflower
Eriophyllum staechadifolium
2 - 5 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
California poppy
Eschscholzia californica
0.16 - 2 ft
© Larner Seeds
Coastal california poppy
Eschscholzia californica v. maritima
1.5 ft
© Stickpen
California fescue
Festuca californica
1.3 - 4 ft
© North Coast CNPS Nursery
Idahoe fescue
Festuca idahoensis
1 - 2.6 ft
© North Coast CNPS Nusery
Siskiyou blue fescue
Festuca idahoensis 'siskiyou blue'
1 - 1.5 ft
© Steve Matson
Red fescue
Festuca rubra
1.3 - 2.6 ft
© Mike
Beach strawberry
Fragaria chiloensis
0.49 - 1 ft
© John Doyen
Coffeeberry
Frangula californica
6 - 15 ft
© Steve Matson
Cascara sagrada
Frangula purshiana
20 - 49.2 ft
© Pete Haggard
Coast silk tassel
Garrya elliptica
6 - 16.4 ft
© John Doyen
Blue field gilia
Gilia capitata
0.3 - 3 ft
© John Doyen
Tricolor gilia
Gilia tricolor
0.3 - 1.2 ft
© John Doyen
Gumweed
Grindelia stricta v. platyphylla
1 - 1.6 ft
© Calscape
Toyon
Heteromeles arbutifolia
6 - 30 ft
Douglas iris
Iris douglasiana
0.6 - 2.6 ft
© Jerry Murray
Toughleaf iris
Iris tenax
0.8 - 1.5 ft
© Dawn Endico
California goldfields
Lasthenia californica
0.5 - 1.3 ft
© John Doyen
Common tidy tips
Layia platyglossa
0.5 - 2 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Cliff maids
Lewisia cotyledon
0.5 - 1 ft
© Steve Matson
Long petaled lewisia
Lewisia longipetala
0.5 - 1 ft
© John Doyen
Bitter root
Lewisia rediviva
1 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Lily
Lilium rubescens
3.5 - 7 ft
© John Doyen
Silver lupine
Lupinus albifrons
3.2 - 5 ft
© John Doyen
Coyote mint
Monardella villosa
2 ft
© Liz Block
Deergrass
Muhlenbergia rigens
4 - 5 ft
© Stickpen
Kellogg's yampah
Perideridia kelloggii
5 ft
© Julie Ann Kierstead
Black oak
Quercus kelloggii
20 - 120 ft
© John Doyen
White sage
Salvia apiana
3 - 5 ft
© John Doyen
Black sage
Salvia mellifera
3 - 6 ft
© Steve Matson
Blue elderberry
Sambucus mexicana
20 - 30 ft
© © 2010 Louis-M. Landry
Black elderberry
Sambucus nigra
13.1 - 30 ft
© John Doyen
California bee plant
Scrophularia californica
2 - 4 ft
© John Doyen
Broad-leaved stonecrop
Sedum spathulifolium
0.1 - 0.75 ft
© John Doyen
Blue eyed grass
Sisyrinchium bellum
1 - 2 ft
© John Doyen
Coast goldenrod
Solidago spathulata
0.3 - 1.6 ft
© Steve Matson
Purple needle grass
Stipa pulchra
3.3 ft
© John Doyen
California aster
Symphyotrichum chilense
1.3 - 3.3 ft
© Steve Matson
Meadow rue
Thalictrum fendleri
3 - 6 ft