Description

Red shanks grows from San Luis Obispo County south into Mexico. It grows into an open tree with shredding strips (“shanks”) on red and gray bark and feathery fronds of small leaves. The flower color is cream white as with the closely related chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum. With careful pruning, redshanks makes an interesting small tree. It is highly adaptable to a variety of soils and is best given little water after it is established.