Rhamnus californica (Plants of the Foothill College California Native Plant Garden)

Rhamnus californica

Frangula californica

Family ²

Rhamnaceae

Description ³

Rhamnus californica (syn. Frangula californica), commonly known as coffeeberry and California buckthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rhamnaceae, the buckthorns. It is native to the southwestern United States and Baja California in Mexico. It is an introduced species in Hawaii.

Community ²

Coastal Strand, Northern Coastal Scrub, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Redwood Forest, Foothill Woodland, Chaparral, Coastal Sage Scrub, Yellow Pine Forest, Red Fir Forest, Pinyon-Juniper Woodland, Joshua Tree Woodland, Creosote Bush Scrub

Flowering ²

Jun-Aug

Ethnobotany ²

• Neeshenam Drug (Toothache Remedy) Powers, Stephen 1874 Aboriginal Botany. Proceedings of the California Academy of Science 5:373-9. (p. 376)
• Costanoan Drug (Cathartic Dermatological Aid,. Laxative) Bocek, Barbara R. 1984 Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, Based on Collections by John P. Harrington. Economic Botany 38(2):240-255 (p. 22)
Kawaiisu Drug (Antidote, Burn Dressing, Dermatological Aid, Disinfectant, Hemostat, Laxative)
Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 58)
• Mahuna Drug (Cathartic) Romero, John Bruno 1954 The Botanical Lore of the California Indians. New York. Vantage Press, Inc. (p. 21)
• Mendocino Indian Drug (Kidney Aid, Misc. Disease Remedy, Cathartic Psychological Aid)
Chestnut, V. K. 1902 Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 7:295-408. (p. 368)
• Mewuk Drug (Cathartic) Merriam, C. Hart 1966 Ethnographic Notes on California Indian Tribes. University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Berkeley (p. 366)
• Modesse Drug (Antirheumatic (External), Cathartic)
Merriam, C. Hart 1966 Ethnographic Notes on California Indian Tribes. University of California Archaeological Research Facility, Berkeley (p. 224)
• Pomo Drug (Laxative) Decoction of bark taken for constipation.
Gifford, E. W. 1967 Ethnographic Notes on the Southwestern Pomo. Anthropological Records 25:10-15 (p. 14)
• Pomo, Kashaya Drug (Laxative) Goodrich, Jennie and Claudia Lawson 1980 Kashaya Pomo Plants. Los Angeles. American Indian Studies Center, University of California, Los Angeles (p. 39)
• Yokia Drug (Misc. Disease Remedy) Chestnut, V. K. 1902 Plants Used by the Indians of Mendocino County, California. Contributions from the U.S. National Herbarium 7:295-408. (p. 368)
• Costanoan Food (Fruit) Bocek, Barbara R. 1984 Ethnobotany of Costanoan Indians, California, Based on Collections by John P. Harrington. Economic Botany 38(2):240-255 (p. 250)
• Paiute Food (Dried Food, Fruit) Steward, Julian H. 1933 Ethnography of the Owens Valley Paiute. University of California Publications in American Archaeology and Ethnology 33(3):233-250 (p. 245)
• Cahuilla Drug (Tonic, Laxative) Bean, Lowell John and Katherine Siva Saubel 1972 Temalpakh (From the Earth); Cahuilla Indian Knowledge and Usage of Plants. Banning, CA. Malki Museum Press (p. 131)
• Diegueno Drug (Cathartic Dermatological Aid) Hedges, Ken 1986 Santa Ysabel Ethnobotany. San Diego Museum of Man Ethnic Technology Notes, No. 20 (p. 37)
• Kawaiisu Food (Fruit) Zigmond, Maurice L. 1981 Kawaiisu Ethnobotany. Salt Lake City. University of Utah Press (p. 58)

Garden location ²

Associated Species ²

native bees (pollen / nectar) XERCES
predatory or parasitoid insects XERCES

Pale Swallowtail Papilio eurymedon (host) ASB

Sources and Credits

(c) James Gaither, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-ND), http://www.flickr.com/photos/13892958@N07/3841343658
(c) gillian360, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA)
Adapted by gillian360 from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frangula_californica

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