Trichostema lanatum, the woolly bluecurls, is a small evergreen shrub or sub-shrub native to arid coastal chaparral regions of California down to the northern tip of Baja California.
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.[1]
Spanish explorers in California called the plant romero, the Spanish term for rosemary, and that common name is still sometimes used.[2]
Trichostema lanatum is cultivated as an ornamental plant, and several cultivars have been developed.[2] It attracts hummingbirds and bumblebees.[3]
It is aromatic and glandular. Native Americans used it for a variety of medicinal and other purposes.[4]
Its leaves and flowers make a flavorful tea.[2]
Trichostema lanatum was incorporated by the Chumash to help facilitate the healing process of menstruation and birth.[5] When tested against an E.Coli ▵tolC mutant, woolly bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) exhibited anti-bacterial properties.[6] [7] Studies have also shown anti-inflammatory properties against pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-ɑ and anti-bacterial properties against macrophages and gram-postivie bacteria, corresponding with the use of woolly bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) as a disinfectant and treatment for rheumatism by the Chumash peoples of California.[8]
Trichostema lanceolatum was used by 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.[9] Trichostema lanceolatum and Trichostema lanatum are both a part of the Lamiaceae family. They differ in smell, smell, and location found.[10] [11] Indigenous tribes used Trichostema lanatum to treat the same ailments as Trichostema lanceolatum. Woolly bluecurls (Trichostema lanatum) 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.[12]
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.