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Rhus integrifolia (Lemonade Berry) - An aromatic, evergreen shrub that typically grows 8 to 10 feet tall (sometimes taller and near the windy coast shorter) with a stout, short trunk and many spreading branches. The leaves are mid to dark green with a leathery texture, flat to slightly enrolled with a margin that usually has small sharp teeth, and the petioles and central leaf veins are often attractively maroon to pink tinged. The small flowers, in tightly grouped clusters, are white to rose-pink in color and bloom at the tips of branches from February to May. The fruit is a sticky, flattish drupe that is covered with a fine reddish-brown down, inside of which is a hard stone of a seed about 1/4 inch long.
Plant in full sun to light, or even dense shade. It is drought tolerant once established and cold hardy to 10°F. This plant is often much shorter when planted on slopes where it is great for slope stabilization - on coastal slopes this plant often grows no taller than 2 feet tall and can be 15 feet or more wide. It can also be kept smaller by regular light pruning and can even be trained as a formal hedge. If this plant becomes too big or too lanky, give it a hard pruning, even to the ground in late winter, and this plant will resprout new shoots rapidly. Use care when pruning as this sumac relative has sap that can cause a rash.
Rhus integrifolia is found growing naturally below 2,600 feet in coastal sage scrub and chaparral on dry, mostly open-facing slopes from Santa Barbara county to Baja California. The sticky substance covering the fruit tastes like bitter lemons, which gives the plant its common name. Rhus integrifolia with its smaller dentate margined leaves and Rhus ovata, with larger, darker and smoother margined leaves are similar plants with natural ranges that overlap and hybrids do occur. The name Rhus is derived from 'rhous', an ancient Greek name for Sumac and the specific epithet integrifolia indicates that the leaf margins are entire, not divided, as are many other Rhus species.
For a while the name for this plant and many other plants in the genus Rhus were listed by the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew database as being in the genus Schmaltzia (in this case as Schmaltzia integrifolia) but it appears that now all databases are now in agreement and these species have all been returned to being in the genus Rhus. The name Schmaltzia was given to the genus by French botanist Nicaise Auguste Desvaux (1784-1856) to honor Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783-1840), also known as Rafinesque-Schmaltz who, as a Turkish born multi-disciplinarian, made notable contributions in the nineteenth century to botany, zoology, anthropology and linguistics.
The information displayed on this page about Rhus integrifolia is based on our research conducted about this plant from books in our nursery library as well as from information that is provided by reliable online resources. We also have included our own observations made about it as it grew in the nursery gardens and other gardens visited, as well how the crops of this plant performed in the containers when we had them in our nursery field. We also include comments received from others and welcome hearing from anyone who has information about this plant, particularly if it includes cultural information aiding others to better grow it.
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