Redshank bushes 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. Redshank and chamise, A. fasciculatum, however, 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. The prolific blossoms that these shrubs produce are an important food source for local pollinator insects such as bees, butterflies and some mot
