Ribes laxiflorum

Trailing black currant

Family: Grossulariaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Trailing black currant is a California native shrub found in northern coastal California in forest and tree crown habitats at elevations below 300 meters. Flowering from March to May, this plant produces red flowers that fade to pale green, small and delicate in 6 to 12-flower clusters. Growing with spreading or decumbent stems less than 2.5 meters tall, it spreads across the forest floor with a distinctive branching habit. Its leaves are deeply 5 to 7-lobed, approximately 5 to 10 centimeters wide, dark green on the upper surface and light green underneath with sparse glandular hairs. The fruit is a small black-glaucous berry 4 to 6 millimeters long, covered with glandular bristles.

Habitat: Forest, tree crowns

Bloom period: Mar-May

Elevation: < 300 m

Bioregions: n NCo

California counties: Humboldt, Del Norte, Alameda, Butte

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