Rhamnus crocea

Identification

Description

An evergreen shrub that usually grows to 2' inland and flat near coast. It will get to about 6' across. Native to the coast ranges from Napa to Baja. It likes full sun near the coast and afternoon shade inland. Our mother plant is in the front yard and was in full sun. It never looked too great until I took down an awful Siberian elm tree (that plugged the septic up each year and always had bugs on it) and left the trunk on the ground in front of this little plant. It has grown into a nice big plant now and looks as if it was always there. They need good drainage and little or no water after established. A beautiful shrub with red berries that you should not have to water or fertilize. I've seen it in Arroyo Grande in clay and I've also seen it in sand. It will not bear berries unless it is happy, under stress you will get no flowers or mostly male flowers, so if you want the berries, plant in its community. Out of its community the next species is easier to get berries on. It is somewhat debatable that the two species are botanically any different. One may be a coastal form and the other interior.