Data provided by the participants of the Consortium of California Herbaria

View additional distribution information on the Jepson eflora

Garrya buxifolia is a species of flowering shrub known by the common names dwarf silktassel and boxleaf silktassel. It is native to Oregon and northern California, where it grows in forests and chaparral, especially in the coastal mountains and hills. This is an erect shrub approaching three meters in maximum height and generally not sprawling very wide. It has a thick foliage of oval-shaped leaves, each several centimeters long and about half as wide, green and shiny on the upper surface and paler and hairy on the underside. The flower cluster is a long, hanging cluster of flowers. The shrub is dioecious, with male and female plants producing similarly arranged flower clusters. Female flowers give way to hanging bunches or small clusters of fruits. The fruit is a spherical berry which is green when young and turns reddish to dark bluish-purple when ripe.

Plant type

Shrub

Size

10 ft Tall

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Color

White, Cream, Green

Special uses

Hedge

Sun

Full Sun, Partial Shade

Propagation

For propagating by seed: 3 mos. stratification [Emery and Frey 1971).

Sunset Zones

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

Plant communities

Chaparral, Mixed Evergreen Forest, Yellow Pine Forest