Vancouveria planipetala

Redwood ivy, Redwood Ivy

Family: Berberidaceae · Type: perennial · Native

Redwood ivy is a California native perennial found in northwestern California (excluding northern Coast Ranges Interior), San Francisco Bay Area, and southern coastal ranges of the Santa Lucia Mountains in coastal conifer forest at elevations below 1,550 meters. Flowering from late April to July, this plant produces white to lavender-tinged flowers with flat, notched petals 3 to 4 millimeters long. Growing with delicate stems that reach 10 to 30 centimeters tall, it spreads with persistent leaves that remain through fruiting. Its leaves are distinctive, with smooth upper surfaces and sparse hair on the undersides, featuring red-brown petioles that become glabrous with age. The fruit develops as a small 5 to 7 millimeter glabrous body, completing its subtle yet elegant lifecycle.

Habitat: Coastal conifer forest

Bloom period: Late Apr-Jul

Elevation: < 1550 m

Bioregions: NW (exc NCoRI), SnFrB, SCoRO (Santa Lucia Range)

California counties: Humboldt, Santa Cruz, Trinity, Mendocino, San Mateo, Del Norte, Sonoma, Santa Clara, Mariposa, Monterey, Marin, Lake, Alameda, Napa, Siskiyou

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