Oh, red berries, redberries!
Surprise in the wilderness…
….A forest’s exclamation mark
Berries, red berries.
By Robin Hyde, 1930
Rhamnus ilicifolia Hollyleaf Redberry
While washing off the plants in the natural island of oaks and bear clover between the old and new driveways, I spotted a bit of red through the manzanita bushes. Investigating, they were bright shiny red berries on a small spindly tree growing up through searching for light. The leaves looked like our mountain mahogany to me, not quite, so I grabbed the camera, took the photo and started researching on CalPhoto.
Turns out it is a Hollyleaf Redberry Rhamnus ilicifolia, a plant new to me! A new native plant right here on our place. Cool. Considered a slow growing understory shrub, a Redberry is related to a coffeeberry, usually 3-9 feet tall and it looks just like an oak. Now I’ll prune a bit around it to give it a bit more space to grow.
Three more plants with Autumn interest:
Mountain Mahogany Cercocarpus betuloides
Hall’s Mule’s Ears, husk, Wyethia elata
Goldenfleece Ericameria arborescens