Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (USDA-ARS) holds 7 accessions of Eriodictyon capitatum in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 2556 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

Based on an September 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, California Botanic Garden holds 16 accessions of Eriodictyon capitatum in orthodox seed collection. There are as many as 5660 seeds of this species in their collection - although some may have been used for curation testing or sent to back up.

Based on an August 2020 extract of the California Plant Rescue Database, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has collected 28 seed accessions of Eriodictyon capitatum from 2 plant occurrences listed in the California Natural Diversity Database. These collections together emcompass 135 maternal plants

Endemic to Santa Barbara County, California. Known from 7 occurrences. Some occurrences contain one or only a few genetic individuals and have extremely limited seed production. Several sites are on military lands (Vandenberg AFB) and receive some protection from development there; however, they are probably not managed for their stability or increase.

Fire suppression, invasive non-native plant species, low seed productivity, and naturally occurring catastrophic events. This species is self-incompatible and reproduces vegetatively through rhizomes. Extant populations have low genetic diversity.

Ten occurrences are now known, in three general regions. Even where there many ramets, the number of genets can be quite low. Therefore while there are approximately 1,000 ramets extant, there are likely fewer than 100 genets existing in the wild.

Elam (1994) used isozyme analysis to estimate the number and spatial distribution of clones of six populations, and assessed seed production of individual ramets. Two of the populations were comprised of only one clone. Seed production generally followed clonal diversity, but other factors such as clone spatial distribution, fruit parasitism, number of flowers per ramet, and pollen quality appear to be important as well.

Management at the Solomon Hills and Hollister Ranch populations is unknown, but Vandenberg Air Force Base may conduct restoration efforts involving genet augmentation of their populations, based on Elam's research. In 2012 SBBG secured and processed ca. 150 seeds of this species, which required collection from ca. 100 inflorescences.

If genet augmentation is conducted by Vandenberg and is successful, this should be pursued at small populations elsewhere. More information is needed on the status of the Solomon Hills populations, which are privately owned, as well as the pollinators using this species. In addition, factors identified by Elam that potentially contribute to low seed production should be investigated, including the specific spatial distribution of clones, fruit parasitism, number of flowers per ramet and pollen quality.

Some seed banking has been done, but more is needed as only one occurrence has been sampled and seed production is very low. Refinement of vegetative propagation techniques is needed (root cuttings) and development of a diverse living collection. In addition, potential causal factors in low seed production should be investigated through garden and greenhouse studies.