Last week, I was cruising up Highway 74 from Palm Desert up to Anza in the San Jacinto wilderness area and met a new plant, the Ribbonwood. According to Neltje Blanchan’s Wild Flowers Worth Knowing (1917, 1922), Adenostoma sparsifolium aka Redshank, Ribbon bush, or Ribbonwood, “is a multi-trunked tree or shrub native to dry slopes or chaparral
of Southern California and northern Baja California. Shaggy falling shanks or ribbons of bark are one of the strongest characteristics of the tree, hence the common names. Redshanks are closely related to the more abundant Chamise (Adenostoma fasciculatum).” It is also a member of the rose family, and a darned attractive chaparral plant.
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