Physocarpus capitatus

Ninebark

Family: Rosaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Ninebark is a California native shrub found in the California Floristic Province (excluding the Great Valley) on moist banks and north-facing slopes in mixed-conifer forest at elevations below 1,400 meters. Flowering from May to July, this plant produces white flowers in clusters with multiple blossoms. Growing 1 to 2.5 meters tall with erect, spreading branches, it forms a dense multi-stemmed shrub with distinctively peeling bark. Its leaves are glabrous to moderately hairy, featuring 3 to 5 lobes that are generally serrate, creating a textured green canopy. The fruit develops as 3 to 5 seed pods approximately 8 to 10 millimeters long, which are glabrous or slightly hairy.

Habitat: Moist banks, n-facing slopes, mixed-conifer forest

Bloom period: May-Jul

Elevation: < 1400 m

Bioregions: CA-FP (exc GV)

California counties: Plumas, Trinity, Siskiyou, Napa, El Dorado, Lake, Marin, Santa Clara, Shasta, Butte, Del Norte, Alameda, Humboldt, Sonoma, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Madera, Tuolumne, Sierra, Placer, Amador, Mariposa, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Mendocino, Nevada, Fresno, Yuba, Calaveras, Tulare, Contra Costa, Mono, San Diego, Tehama

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