Redshank shrubs have tiny needle-like evergreen leaves on sometimes scraggly branches. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo
One of the most common sights in the Anza Valley are vast expanses of redshank forests covering the mountains and canyons, amid the boulders and sagebrush.The redshank, or ribbonwood shrub, Adenostoma sparsifolium is actually a member of the scientific family Rosaceae - the rose family - which includes 4,828 known flowering species. However, redshank and chamise (A. fasciculatum) are the only two species in their genus within Rosaceae.The plant is aptly named ribbonwood for the delicate paper-like bark that sloughs off the trunk and branches of the plant, while the term redshank describes the color of both bark and interior wood.These common shrubs grow in Southern California and Baja California Norte. The largest populations of redshank chaparral are in the San Jacinto and San
