Frangula rubra subsp. yosemitana

Family: Rhamnaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Yosemite coffee berry is a California native shrub found in the central Sierra Nevada Mountains in chaparral and montane forest at elevations of 1,000 to 2,200 meters. Flowering from April to June, this plant produces small greenish-white flowers in delicate clusters. Growing with distinctive red to gray twigs reaching up to one to two meters tall, it develops an open, spreading form. Its leaves are narrowly elliptic to oblong, approximately 30 to 70 millimeters long, with finely hairy surfaces and acute to rounded tips. The shrub forms part of the understory in mixed montane habitats, providing important ecological structure in Sierra Nevada woodland communities.

Habitat: Chaparral, montane forest

Bloom period: Apr-Jun

Elevation: 1000-2200 m

Bioregions: c SNH.

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