Ribes malvaceum

Chaparral currant

Family: Grossulariaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Chaparral currant is a California native shrub found in chaparral and woodland habitats. Flowering from February to April, this plant produces pink to purple flowers about 5 to 8 millimeters long with delicate white and pink petals. Growing to less than 2 meters tall with an open, spreading form, the shrub has dense glandular-hairy branches. Its leaves are 2 to 5 centimeters wide, coarsely toothed, and covered in glandular hairs that give the foliage a distinctive texture. The fruit is a purple-glaucous berry 6 to 7 millimeters long, covered in white glandular hairs.

California counties: Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Ventura, Lake, Santa Clara, Napa, Humboldt, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Calaveras, Monterey, Alameda, Solano, San Francisco, San Benito, Fresno, Contra Costa, Orange, Tehama, Riverside, San Bernardino, Kern, Colusa, Glenn, Mendocino, Shasta, Stanislaus, Tuolumne, Santa Cruz, San Diego, San Joaquin, Merced, Marin, Amador, Modoc, Yolo, El Dorado

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