Evergreen Currant
Ribes viburnifolium
Evergreen currant, or Catalina currant, is a low, spreading evergreen shrub for dry shade, with aromatic leathery leaves and small wine-red flowers. One of the best California natives for groundcover under oaks. The fruit is edible raw or cooked.
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
- Type
- shrub
- Lifespan
- perennial
- Height
- 3–3 ft
- Spacing
- 6–12 ft apart
- Light
- sun, part shade
- Soil moisture
- moist
- Soil pH
- acidic, neutral
- Bloom
- February, March, April
- Bloom colors
- pink, purple
- Wildlife value
- pollinators, hummingbirds, songbirds, larval host
- Caterpillar hosts
- ~99 butterfly & moth species
- Landscape uses
- foundation, erosion control
- 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)
- Chaparral Currant (Ribes malvaceum)
- Pasture Gooseberry (Ribes cynosbati)