It is a member of the Lamiaceae, or mint family, but like other Lepechinia, the flowers are borne in racemes instead of in mintlike whorls.

It is found in open areas in chaparral, in dry ravines, on rocky slopes and ridgetops, between 60 and 1100 meters.

[1] Lepechinia fragrans is a vase-shaped herbaceous shrub from 60 centimeters to just under 2 meters in height and equal in spread.

The entire plant is hairy, with long nonglandular hairs and glands which have short or no stalks.

Larger, lusher leaves are produced during the rainy season in winter, and some of these are shed during the dry season, and are replaced by leaves which are smaller and more gray in color The flowers range in color from white to pale pink to medium purple.

The fruit is a cluster of four smooth to shiny nutlets which are dark brown to black in color.