Frangula californica

California coffee berry

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

California coffee berry is a native shrub found throughout coastal and northern California in diverse habitats including chaparral, oak woodlands, and mixed evergreen forests from near sea level to 1,500 meters elevation. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces small white to greenish-white flowers in compact clusters of 5 to 60 blossoms. Growing to heights of 1 to 5 meters with distinctive bark ranging from bright gray to reddish-brown, the shrub features spreading branches with brown or gray twigs. Its leathery, elliptic to ovate leaves are generally evergreen, measuring 20 to 100 millimeters long with prominent veins and edges that may be slightly rolled under. The fruit develops as a glossy black drupe approximately 10 to 15 millimeters long, typically containing two stones.

California counties: Mendocino, Los Angeles, Kern, San Bernardino, Tulare, Santa Barbara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, Shasta, Yuba, San Francisco, Trinity, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Del Norte, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Orange, Placer, Monterey, Santa Clara, Riverside, Mariposa, Colusa, Lake, Sonoma, Yolo, Solano, Marin, Napa, El Dorado, Plumas, Inyo, Amador, Sutter, Santa Cruz, Ventura

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.