Twigs softly white-hairy and glandular-hairy. Immature inflorescence axes glandular-hairy. Pedicels glandular-hairy. Fruits glandular-hairy.

Flowering early winter-late spring. Chaparral, open forests; 400-1700 m; Calif.

Subspecies sonomensis is scattered in the North Coast Ranges from Santa Cruz County northward to Humboldt County, often in mixed populations with subsp. canescens. It was originally thought to be a rare subspecies; more intensive investigation may reveal individuals in populations throughout the range of the species.