← Bedfellow

Lemonade Berry

Rhus integrifolia

A major shrub of Southern California's coastal sage scrub, with thick leathery leaves, pink-tinged flowers and sticky red fruit whose tart coating was soaked to make a lemonade-like drink. It takes hard shearing into a hedge, holds slopes against erosion and shrugs off salt wind. Hybridizes freely with sugar bush where their ranges meet.

Family

Anacardiaceae

Type

tree

Lifespan

perennial

Height

8–25 ft

Spacing

10–25 ft apart

Light

sun, part shade

Soil moisture

dry

Soil pH

neutral

Bloom

February, March, April, May

Bloom colors

white, pink

Wildlife value

songbirds, pollinators, butterflies, mammals

Caterpillar hosts

~58 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

hedge or screen, erosion control, specimen

Native states

CA