California Invasive Plant Council

Limonium ramosissimum

Common names: Algerian sea lavender

Limonium ramosissimum (Algerian sea lavender) is a perennial plant (family Plumbaginaceae) that can be found in the San Francisco Bay, Carpinteria marsh (Santa Barbara County), Orange County, and San Diego County. Historic records include Riverside County as well. It is an ornamental escape that is native to the coastal Mediterranean and can grow in coastal marshes as well as inland wetlands.
This species reproduces by seeds that can retain the ability to germinate after two weeks floating in salt water. It was previously listed as the “provinciale” in our Inventory but its subspecific identity is unclear and many collections recorded across California are not associated with subspecies. In both the SF Bay and southern California, Limonium ramosissimum co-occurs with another closely related invasive sea lavender, Limonium duriusculum.

Cal-IPC Rating: Limited

CDFA Rating: B

Cal-IPC Assessment

Plant Assessment Form - Information gathered by Cal-IPC on the impacts, rate of spread, and distribution of invasive plants in California. Does not include management information.

Species ID Card

Invasive Species ID Card - To support field identification of early detection species, Cal-IPC has designed a set of Species ID cards that can be downloaded, printed double-sided, and trimmed to size.

Weed Management Notes

Cal-IPC Newsletter Articles

• Wildland Weed News. Cal-IPC. Vol 25, Issue 2
• Wildland Weed News. Cal-IPC. Vol 25, Issue 1
• Wildland Weed News. Cal-IPC. Vol 24, Issue 3
• Protecting San Francisco Bay salt marshes from invasive sea lavender. Whitcomb, Amy. Vol 24, Issue 3
• Wildland Weed News. Cal-IPC. Vol 24, Issue 2
• Protecting San Diego wetlands. Cal-IPC. Vol 24, Issue 1
• Activism vs. managerialism. Johnson, Doug. Vol 23, Issue 2
• Progress removing Algerian sea lavender. Perlmutter, Mike. Vol 21, Issue 3
• Staying “on label” in tidal waters. Thomson, David. Vol 21, Issue 3

Cal-IPC Symposium Presentations

Presentations are linked where available. Where a presentation is not available, find more information by reading the abstract in the Cal-IPC Symposia Archive.

• Limonium ramosissimum distribution models and effective treatment types in the Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve of Orange County, California. Crook, Elizabeth; Mudge, Isabella; Spear, Hannah; Banuelas, David; Arenas, Alys; Swanson, Amanda (2020)
• California Update. Johnson, Doug (2020)
• Striking a balance: Selecting strategy levels for a startup invasive Limonium project based on eradication stage and budget. Kerr, Drew (2019)
• Managing invasive sea lavender at Bothin Marsh. Manzanillo, Tatiana (2018)
• Assessing spatio-temporal changes of invasive Limonium ramosissimum in San Francisco Bay wetlands. Kalchmayr, Kerstin (2017)
• Controlling Algerian sea lavender in San Francisco Estuary tidal marshes. Kerr, Drew (2017)
• Controlling Algerian sea lavender and assessing marsh vulnerability. Kerr, Drew (2016)
• New and expanding weeds in California. Kelch, Dean (2012)
• Eradicating Algerian sea lavender (Limonium ramosissimum) from San Francisco Bay wetlands. Perlmutter, Mike; Archbald, Gavin; Boyer, Kathy (2011)
• Evaluating the potential for spread of an invasive forb, Limonium ramosissimum, in San Francisco Bay salt marshes. Archbald, Gavin; Boyer, Katharyn (2009)

Other Limonium ramosissimum Information

• CalPhotos - Images of plants taken mostly in California.
• Calflora - See the distribution of this species on Calflora's map of California.
• CalWeedMapper - Distribution information with ability to determine regional priorities.
• Jepson Online Interchange for California Flora - Information on taxonomy, biology, and distribution from UC Berkeley's Jepson Herbarium.
• USDA PLANTS Database - Federal database with information on identification and distribution, and links to websites in individual states.
• EDDMapS - North American distribution based on Early Detection and Distribution Mapping System.