Ribes sericeum

Santa lucia gooseberry, Santa Lucia Gooseberry

Family: Grossulariaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 4.3

Santa lucia gooseberry is a California native shrub found in the southern Coast Ranges in forest openings, coastal scrub, and streamside thickets at elevations of 180 to 800 meters. Flowering from December to April, this plant produces white flowers with petals curled inward, set against green or red sepals. Growing to less than 2 meters tall with dense, glandular-hairy stems that feature three nodal spines, it develops distinctive branching patterns. Its leaves are 2 to 4 centimeters wide, nearly smooth on top and glandular-hairy underneath, with a delicate texture. The fruit is a purple berry 10 to 20 millimeters long, covered in glandular bristles that add textural interest.

Habitat: Forest openings, coastal scrub, streamside thickets

Bloom period: Dec-Apr

Elevation: 180-800 m

Bioregions: SCoRO.

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