CHAPARRAL CURRANT
- Common Name(s): Chaparral Currant
- Scientific Name: Ribes malvaceum
- Family: Saxifrage (Saxifragaceae), or sometimes Grossulariaceae
- Plant Type: Deciduous shrub
- Size: Bush or shrub up to 6 feet tall
- Common Habitat: slopes, canyons, woodlands, chaparral, up to 2500 feet in elevation, being quite common
Chaparral currant is an attractive shrub that blooms in winter and early spring in our local mountains. Its leaves form on reddish-colored stems, are fuzzy-looking, about 1-2 inches in diameter with 3-5 lobes. The leaves drop in summer and bud in fall. Rosy-pink flowers form from October to March. They gather in drooping clusters up to 6 inches long and containing as many as 25 individual flowers. The berries which follow are 1/4 inch diameter, dark purple to black in color, with a waxy, powder-like coating. The fruit is not flavorful. Native Americans used the roots of Chaparral currant for toothache.
The species name of malveceum means mallow-like, on account of the leaf shape being similar to that of bush mallow or Malocothamnus fasciculatus. Another variation of currant in our area, White Chaparral Currant or Ribes indecorum, has white flowers and slightly smaller leaves but otherwise looks the same.
