Ribes thacherianum

Santa cruz island gooseberry, Santa Cruz Island Gooseberry

Family: Grossulariaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Conservation status: CNPS 1B.2

Santa cruz island gooseberry is a rare (CNPS 1B.2) California native shrub found in the northern Channel Islands on Santa Cruz Island in coastal ravines at elevations of 30 to 175 meters. Flowering from March to April, this plant produces white petals with pink sepals in delicate blossoms with curled-in petal margins. Growing less than 3 meters tall with hairy, bristly stems that have 0 to 3 nodal spines, it forms a compact branching structure. Its leaves are 2 to 3 centimeters wide with shallow lobes, relatively smooth on the upper surface and hairy underneath. The fruit is a purple berry 7 to 10 millimeters long, covered in dense, soft bristles.

Habitat: Ravines

Bloom period: Mar-Apr

Elevation: 30-175 m

Bioregions: n ChI (Santa Cruz Island).

California counties: Santa Barbara

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