Chaparral Currant
Ribes malvaceum
Chaparral currant is a fragrant California native that blooms in fall and winter with drooping pink flower clusters, feeding hummingbirds and bees in the lean months. Drought-deciduous and superb for dry shade. Like other currants, the fruit is a traditional foraged food, tart and juicy.
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–6 ft
- Spacing
- 4–6 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- dry
- Soil pH
- neutral
- Bloom
- February, March, April, May
- Bloom colors
- pink
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, hummingbirds, songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~99 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- hedge or screen, foundation
- Native states
- CA
Related native plants
More Ribes species
- Red Flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum)
- Golden Currant (Ribes aureum)
- Wax Currant (Ribes cereum)
- Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum)
- Pasture Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)
- White Chaparral Currant (Ribes indecorum)