Chaparral currant
It flowers when nothing else does. That is the whole point of it, and it is why the hummingbirds stay.
In brief
Ribes malvaceum, Grossulariaceae.
- Deciduous shrub, summer-dormant
- Native to California
- Flowers late October to March
- Fruit a purple berry
Where it grows
Chaparral and foothill woodland through the Coast Ranges and the Sierra Nevada foothills, usually in part shade.
When it blooms
Late October to March. It drops its leaves in the heat and comes back into leaf and flower with the first rains, which is the opposite of almost everything around it.
Seed and fruit
A dark purple berry, bristly, eaten by birds.
Here
Photographed in flower on January 11, 2021 with an Anna's hummingbird feeding at it. This is the shrub that carries the winter here: the hummingbird does not migrate, so something has to be open in January, and this is what is open.
By Yggdrasil Springs
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