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Golden Currant
Ribes aureum var. gracillimum
  
28 Nurseries Carry This Plant

About Golden Currant (Ribes aureum var. gracillimum) 28 Nurseries Carry This Plant Ribes aureum var gracillimum, known by the common name Golden Currant, is a species of small to medium-sized deciduous shrub that grows 3-6 feet tall. It's native to the coast and foothill regions of California, growing most commonly in the southern foothills of the Transverse Range, and more rarely in the coastal ranges as far as the Mendocino National Forest. It blooms in spring with racemes of conspicuous golden yellow flowers, often with a pronounced fragrance similar to that of cloves or vanilla. The flowers attract hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. Leaves are green, shaped similarly to gooseberry leaves, turning red in autumn. The plant is deciduous from late December to early February. The shrub produces berries about half an inch in diameter from an early age. Ripe fruits, amber yellow to black in color, are tasty, and attract a wide range of birds.

While Golden Currants are fairly drought tolerant once mature, they grow best in areas with somewhat more ground water, such as the bottom of slopes, near creeks or canyon bottoms, or near irrigated areas. On the coast, they prefer full sun, and inland, part shade. They do best when surrounded by mulch, and grow well under oak trees and in mixed chaparral. When Golden Currants are thriving, they self-seed and spread out from the original plant and can serve as a groundcover.
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
3 - 6 ft tall
3 - 6 ft wide

Form
Form
Spreading

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Moderate

Dormancy
Dormancy
Evergreen, Winter Deciduous

Fragrance
Fragrance
Fragrant - Pleasant

Flower Color
Flower Color
Yellow

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Winter, Spring

Wildlife Supported
 
Hummingbirds, many other bird species, butterflies, other pollinators

 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 72 likely * ) SHOW ALL
*
Polygonia gracilis Image
Hoary Comma Polygonia gracilisPolygonia gracilis
*
Aglais milberti Image
Milbert's Tortoiseshell Aglais milbertiAglais milberti
*
Polygonia satyrus Image
Satyr Comma Polygonia satyrusPolygonia satyrus
*
Polygonia faunus Image
Green Comma Polygonia faunusPolygonia faunus
*
Lycaena arota Image
Tailed Copper Lycaena arotaLycaena arota
*
Polygonia oreas Image
Oreas Comma Polygonia oreasPolygonia oreas
*
Hyles lineata Image
White-lined Sphinx Hyles lineataHyles lineata

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Low, Moderate - High,

Summer Irrigation
Summer Irrigation
Max 1x / week once established

Nurseries
Nurseries
Carried by 28

Cold Tolerance
Cold Tolerance
Tolerates cold to -15 - 0° F

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Variable. Soil PH: 6 - 8

Common uses
Common uses
Groundcovers, Deer Resistant, Hummingbird Gardens, Bird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Companion Plants
Companion Plants
Oaks (Quercus species), Cottonwoods (Populus species), Manzanita (Arctostaphylos species), Mulefat (Baccharis salicifolia), Sedges (Carex species), Ceanothus species, Brown Dogwood (Cornus glabrata), Honeysuckle (Lonicera species), Monkeyflower (Mimulus species), Flaxleaf Monardella (Monardella linoides), Hollyleaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia), California Wild Rose (Rosa californica), Hummingbird Sage (Salvia spathacea), Blue-eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium bellum)

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
6*, 7, 8, 9, 10, 14*, 15*, 16*, 17*, 18*, 19*, 20*, 21*, 22*, 23*, 24*

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Found in a variety of settings and habitats most often slope bottoms, creek sides, bottoms of slopes adjacent to wetland-riparian, moister areas in oak woodlands, chaparral. Occasionally also found in drier settings such as sagebrush scrub, woodlands (oak, juniper, pine), or at higher elevations in fir or pine forest

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 9.9" - 51.8", Summer Precipitation: 0.18" - 1.20", Coldest Month: 31.9" - 55.6", Hottest Month: 63.0" - 81.0", Humidity: 0.59" - 28.86", Elevation: 24" - 4908"


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Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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