Gander's pitcher sage

Lepechinia ganderi is a short, aromatic shrub with slender branches coated in rough hairs and resin glands. The leaves are lance-shaped (lanceolate) and may have toothed (serrate) edges. The raceme inflorescence bears flowers on pedicels that are 1 to 2 cm long. Each flower has a base of long, pointed sepals below a white to light lavender tubular corolla. The flower is lipped at the mouth. The small, dark, hairless fruit develops attached to the sepals once the corolla falls. The flowers are pollinated by bees and hummingbirds.

This species is a near-endemic to southern San Diego County, California and the neighboring border region of Baja California. It is known from around 20 occurrences in the United States, many on federal land. The Mexican populations are not well studied. It is distributed throughout the coastal Peninsular Range foothills and mountains in this area, including Otay Mountain and the Jamul Mountains. Plants of this species are typically found growing on rocky, metavolcanic, gabbroic substrates, often in habitats ranging from coastal sage scrub and chaparral to closed-cone coniferous forest, such as Tecate cypress groves, and grasslands, at elevations from 500 to 1060 meters.