Los Angeles Times SoCal Garden Clinic
November 9, 2013 Reader Question: When I moved to Northridge in 1951, every nursery carried flats of Lippia, a cheap, tough, drought-resistant ground cover and lawn substitute. When I ordered it at a nursery, it took months to get, in spite of the fact that it is grown in Northern California, and it was expensive. Do you know why it has disappeared? Read the Article
For our native plant loving friends, the following may be a special treat. Theodore Payne’s understanding of Lippia as an lawn alternative with aggressive habits was discovered in the Theodore Payne Foundation archives shortly after the LA Times published the aforementioned article.
A Post-Note from the Theodore Payne Foundation Archives
Theodore Payne notes: “Lippia repens (L. canescens) `Mat Grass’: Though this plant is native to South America and may be North America and even California, it came into cultivation by way of Italy. In 1898 Dr. F. Franceschi of Santa Barbara obtained a few plants from the Director of the Botanic Garden in Rome. These plants packed in a tin box and weighing just under twelve ounces were sent by sample post to Dr. Franceschi at Santa Barbara. He planted them in the ground at his nursery then at State and Gutierrez Streets.
“The plants spread very quickly and soon there was quite a nice little patch. He then commenced growing the plants in flats and offered these for sale. I was working for the Germain Seed & Plant Company at the time and we ordered two flats for a customer. These flats were set on the ground in the nursery yard at the back of the store, then at 4th and Main Streets. The customer did not call for them for several weeks and by that time the runners had crawled over the edge of the boxes and rooted down. When the flats were lifted up quite a number plants were left in the ground and a patch started in this way was allowed to stay there and was used for propagating from for several years.
“Soon all the nurseries were selling Lippia, while many people obtained it from their neighbors and there were many acres of it growing in California, Arizona and other sections. All originating from a few plants in a tin box weighing less than twelve ounces, sent by mail from Italy to Santa Barbara.”