Grows well in full sun or light shade. A hardy shrub that can grow in most soils, but best in a sandy well-drained soil. Drought tolerant once established and cold hardy to 5° F and possibly a bit colder. Can be pruned to shape of even trained up as a small tree. A great plant for the natural California garden and useful on a slope for erosion control. Its flowers and fruit are attractive to wildlife yet it is relatively resistant to predation by deer.

Rhamnus californica is native from the Southwestern Oregon south along the coast and Coast Ranges to northern Baja California and east into southern Nevada, Arizona and western New Mexico where it is a component of chaparral, woodland, and forest communities. We also grow the cultivars 'Eve Case', 'Leatherleaf'. and 'Mound San Bruno'. The name for the genus Rhamnus derives from the ancient Greek 'rabdos', meaning a "stick" in reference to the presence a woody spine on the end of each twig for certain species. The common name Coffeeberry comes from the plant looking a bit like coffee with both its foliage and red berries that age to black and also because the roasted seeds make a flavorful caffeine-free coffee substitute. It is also called California buckthorn. Recent nomenclatural changes have given rise to a name change for this plant to Frangula californica - we continued to list it as Rhamnus californica until this name has wider recognition. The genus name Frangula comes from the Latin 'frangere' meaning "to break" in reference to its brittle wood. We often get inquiries about whether the berries of Rhamnus californica (or Frangula californica as it is now called) are poisonous.

We have grown the species and several cultivars for many years and did not list it as poisonous. It is not listed in Thomas Fuller and Elizabeth McClintock in Poisonous Plants in California, the book we typically rely on for such information, but is does make it onto various poisonous plant lists such as the one included in California Native Plants for the Garden by Carol Bornstein, Dave Fross and Bart O'Brien and on Dr. Ann King Filmer's list on the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences website Safe and Poisonous Garden Plants. While there is some indication that aboriginal Californians may have used the berries as a food source and some suggest the fruit can be used to make a coffee like beverage, a jam or even be eaten raw, the general consensus is that if one eats enough of the berries or they are particularly sensitive, then it could make one sick. Another way to judge this is that, while this plant does come up on poisonous plant lists, it does not come up on any credible edible plant or forage plant lists. Compared to much more toxic plants, it seems clear that Rhamnus californica is not very poisonous, but enough so that we have decided to note on our website that Rhamnus californica be considered a poisonous plant. 

The information displayed on this page about Rhamnus californica is based on the research we have conducted about it in our nursery library as well as from information provided by reliable online resources. We also include our own observations made about this plant as it grows in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant have performed in the containers in our nursery field. We will also incorporate comments that we have received from others and welcome hearing from anyone with information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information that will aid others to better grow it.