Native Shrubs - Chico

At least eight shrubs are native to the land within Chico's city limits.¹ They span five plant families: the aster family, heath family, mock orange family, buckthorn family, and rose family. Chico's native shrubs are described below.

Aster Family

Coyote brush is a ten-foot-tall, evergreen shrub that prefers full sun and moderate to good drainage. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website and USDA Conservation Plant Characteristics, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Common manzanita (Arctostaphylos manzanita) with Indian paintbrush beneath it. Photo by queerbychoice. Common manzanita is a six- to eight-foot-tall, evergreen shrub that prefers sun or partial shade and moderate to good drainage. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website and USDA Conservation Plant Characteristics, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Mock orange (Philadelphus lewisii) in the California State University Sacramento arboretum. Photo by queerbychoice. Mock orange is a six- to twelve-foot-tall, white-flowering, deciduous shrub that prefers full sun and moderate to good drainage. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website and USDA Conservation Plant Characteristics, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Several buckbrush (Ceanothus cuneatus) shrubs bloom with white flowers under oak and pine trees near Smartsville. Photo by queerbychoice. Buckbrush (also called wedgeleaf California lilac) is an eleven-foot-tall, white-flowering, evergreen shrub that prefers full sun. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website and USDA Conservation Plant Characteristics, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Hoary coffeeberry (Frangula tomentella) in the American River Parkway. Photo by queerbychoice. Hoary coffeeberry is a six- to twelve-foot-tall, stress-deciduous shrub that tolerates serpentine and prefers sun or partial shade. You can see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Hollyleaf redberry is a three- to twelve-foot-tall, evergreen shrub that prefers sun or partial shade and good drainage. You can see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia) in the California State University Sacramento arboretum. The clusters of berries will turn bright red as they ripen. Photo by queerbychoice. Toyon is an eight- to occasionally twenty-foot-tall, white-flowering, evergreen shrub that prefers moderate to good drainage. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.

Western raspberry (Rubus leucodermis) laden with berries. Photo by queerbychoice. Western raspberry is a one- to five-foot-tall, white-flowering, sometimes climbing, deciduous shrub that prefers full sun. You can read more about it at the Las Pilitas Nursery website and USDA Conservation Plant Characteristics, see pictures of it on CalPhotos, Flickr, and Picasa, and find out where to buy it at the California Native Plant Link Exchange.