Erysimum capitatum Douglas (Wallflower)

'Douglas' Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum 'Douglas') is a selected PNW form of Western Wallflower with particularly golden-orange fragrant flowers and strong vigor. 12 to 30 inches tall in a neat basal rosette.

Western Wallflower (Erysimum capitatum) is a short-lived perennial. Often biennial in colder zones. Native across western North America from the Pacific Coast east to the Rocky Mountains, from low-elevation dune communities to high alpine slopes. Dense terminal racemes of fragrant golden-orange four-petaled flowers cover the plant from early spring through early summer, rising 12 to 30 inches above a tidy basal rosette of gray-green leaves.

Western Wallflower is a documented BAMONA larval host for Sara's Orangetip butterfly (Anthocharis sara). The small white butterfly with distinctive orange wingtips is one of the spring-emerging western Pierids. Females lay eggs on the flower buds, and caterpillars eat the developing seeds and flowers. Wallflowers also attract honey bees, mason bees, native bees, and many spring butterflies.

Navajo-Ramah and Zuni peoples used Erysimum capitatum medicinally as an analgesic and emetic.

Coastal-friendly. Native on Oregon coastal headlands, bluffs, and stable dunes. Wind and salt tolerant.

Pairs with Eriophyllum lanatum, Armeria maritima, Fragaria chiloensis, Achillea millefolium, and Sedum spathulifolium for a coastal-bluff pollinator tapestry.