American Threefold
Trixis californica
Family: Asteraceae
Small evergreen shrub reaching about 2’ tall and a little bit wider. Beautiful yellow flowers appear heavy in spring and fall but can appear anytime.
Full to part sun, moderate water with good drainage, probably hardy to 20°F. B
utterflies and other pollinators love the flowers and granivorous birds eat the seeds.
Photo by Sue Carnahan, SEINET
Trixis californica on iNaturalist
The leaves of this species were smoked for pleasure by the Seri of Mexico. The Seri regard this plant as a panacea, claiming that there is nothing that this medicinal herb is not good for. Among its wide range of uses, trixis is smoked like tobacco. Other uses include administration as an aid to childbirth.
Trixis is from Greek trixos, three-fold, referring to three-cleft outer corolla lip, while californica refers to California. There are 43 species of Trixis native to North and South America including the West Indies.
Found on rocky slopes and ridges below 5,000’ in southern California, Arizona, southern New Mexico, southwestern Texas; south into central Mexico.