Occasional notes on the wildflowers of 91011
One of the pleasures of living in a moist climate is the ability to grow fuchsias outside. Fuchsias are a mostly South American plant. They thrive in cultivation in moderate northern climes, but not here. Yet if the San Gabriel Valley is too hot and dry to make fuchsias happy, we do have our own happy alternative: Fuchsia-Flowered Gooseberry (Ribes speciosum), which you can find at Cherry Canyon in the early spring.
Fuchsias are prized for their bright colors, their moderately large pendant flowers, and their long and dangling colorful stamens. Our own Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry has all of these attractive features, and more! In spring, its shiny dark-green leaves command attention, at least until they are upstaged by the opening of the fuchsia-red blossoms. Those blossoms in turn produce (no surprise here) gooseberries, which are themselves covered with red bristles. (If you’re minded to sample these berries, you may need to dissect them first.)
Still, those bristles on the berries will seem trivial if you get close enough to see how the plant is defended year ’round by sharp thorns that measure up to an inch long. The thorns are easiest to observe late in the year. At that time, after the leaves have turned red and then dropped away, the naked branches appear as a rich honey brown, weathering to gray only in subsequent seasons. You may find it helpful to know that Cherry Canyon has two other species of Ribes — Golden Currant and White-flowering Currant — but both are called “currants” because they do not have thorns!
Where and when to find it. Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry usually flowers in February or March, but it may arrive sooner or linger much longer. It occurs more or less along the coast from Santa Cruz to San Diego, preferring seasonally moist locations and partial shade. It’s found throughout Cherry Canyon in similar habitats, so look along the Conservancy Trail and the Cerro Negro Trail. You can also find it along the south side of Highland Drive in the neighborhoods east of Cherry Canyon. As for timing, if you see the blossoms of its yellow-flowered cousin, the more widespread Golden Currant (Ribes aureum), it should also be about time for Fuchsia-flowered Gooseberry.
- For more about Ribes speciosum, visit Wikipedia.
- For information about growing this plant in your yard, visit Calscape.org.
- For distribution maps, taxonomy, and more photos, visit Calflora.org.
- And go here to read other occasional notes on the wildflowers of 91011.
