Frangula californica subsp. occidentalis

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

California coffeeberry is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and northern Sierra Nevada foothills in chaparral and woodland habitats on serpentine at elevations up to 2,300 meters. Flowering from March to June, this plant produces small greenish-white flowers in compact clusters. Growing as a compact shrub less than 2 meters tall with smooth brown twigs, it forms a dense, rounded shape. Its leaves are ovate to elliptic, 20 to 80 millimeters long, with a yellow-green color, rounded base, and acute or rounded tips. The fruit develops as a three-stoned drupe, providing food for local wildlife.

Habitat: Chaparral, woodland on serpentine

Bloom period: Mar-Jun

Elevation: < 2300 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRO, n SNF

California counties: Del Norte, Siskiyou, Humboldt, Mendocino, Shasta, Trinity, Lake, Napa, Monterey

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