- April growth in the Spring Mountains, southern Nevada
- Flowering in southwest Idaho
- Tumalo State Park, Oregon
- Branch in Bend, Oregon, backlit by sun
- Berries with dried flower remnant
Wax currant | |
---|---|
Ribes cereum var. cereum, from the Spring Mountains, southern Nevada | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Grossulariaceae |
Genus: | Ribes |
Species: | R. cereum |
Binomial name | |
Ribes cereum | |
Varieties | |
Ribes cereum var. colubrinum C.L.Hitchc. [2] Contents |
Ribes cereum is a species of currant known by the common names wax currant [7] and squaw currant; [8] the pedicellare variety is known as whisky currant. The species is native to western North America.
Ribes cereum is a spreading or erect shrub growing between 20 centimetres (8 inches) and 2 metres (6+1⁄2 feet) in height. [9] The stems are fuzzy, often very glandular, and lack spines and prickles. The gray-green leaves are somewhat rounded and divided into shallow lobes [8] which are toothed along the edges. The leaves are hairless to quite hairy and usually studded with visible resin glands, particularly around the edges. The inflorescence is a clustered raceme of 2 to 9 flowers. The small flower is tubular with the white to pink sepals curling open at the tips to form a corolla-like structure. Inside there are minute white or pinkish petals, five stamens, and two protruding green styles. The fruit is a rather tasteless orange-red berry [8] up to 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide, with a characteristically long, dried flower remnant at the end. [9]
The plant is aromatic, with a spicy scent. [9] The hairs on much of the plant can contribute to a carrion-like odor. [8]
The species is native to western North America, including British Columbia, Alberta, and much of the western United States, from Washington, Oregon, and California to as far east as the western Dakotas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. [10]
It grows in several types of habitat, including mountain forests in alpine climates, sagebrush, and woodlands. It can grow in many types of soils, including sandy soils and soil made of clay substrates, serpentine soils, and lava beds. [11]
The berries are a significant food source for deer [8] and are consumed by other animals. [12]
Some Native American tribes ate the berries. [13] The Zuni people eat the berries of the pedicellare variety, as well as the leaves with uncooked mutton fat or deer fat. [14] One field guide reports that the berries are somewhat toxic and can have an unpleasant flavor. [15] Eating too many may cause a burning feeling in the throat. [8] One source says they are good when ripe, and can be made into jam or pie fillings. [13]
Amelanchier alnifolia, the saskatoon berry, Pacific serviceberry, western serviceberry, western shadbush, or western juneberry, is a shrub with an edible berry-like fruit, native to North America.
Eriophyllum lanatum, with the common names common woolly sunflower, Oregon sunshine and golden yarrow, is a common, widespread, North American plant in the family Asteraceae.
Purshia tridentata, with the common name bitterbrush, is a shrub in the genus Purshia of the family Rosaceae. It is native to mountainous areas of western North America.
Ribes sanguineum, the flowering currant, redflower currant, red-flowering currant, or red currant is a North American species of flowering plant in the family Grossulariaceae, native to the western United States and Canada.
Ericameria nauseosa, commonly known as chamisa, rubber rabbitbrush, and gray rabbitbrush, is a shrub in the sunflower family (Aster) found in the arid regions of western North America.
Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes native to North America.
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus is a species of shrub in the family Asteraceae of the Americas known by the common names yellow rabbitbrush and green rabbitbrush.
Ribes divaricatum is a species in the genus Ribes found in the forests, woodlands, and coastal scrub of western North America from British Columbia to California. The three accepted varieties have various common names which include the word "gooseberry". Other common names include coast black gooseberry, wild gooseberry, Worcesterberry, or spreading-branched gooseberry.
Ribes amarum is a species of currant known by the common name bitter gooseberry. It is endemic to California, where it is known from mountains, foothills, and canyons. Its habitat includes Chaparral.
Ribes californicum, with the common name hillside gooseberry, is a North American species of currant. It is endemic to California, where it can be found throughout many of the California Coast, Transverse, and Peninsular Ranges in local habitat types such as chaparral and woodlands.
Ribes hudsonianum is a North American species of currant, known by the common name northern black currant.
Ribes indecorum is a species of currant known by the common names white-flowered currant and white chaparral currant. It is native to the southern California Coast Ranges, Transverse Ranges, and Peninsular Ranges, from around Santa Barbara County in California south into northern Baja California.
Ribes inerme is a species of currant known by the common names whitestem gooseberry and white stemmed gooseberry. It is native to western North America from British Columbia to California and westward to the Rocky Mountains. It grows in mountain forests, woodlands, and meadows.
Ribes lasianthum is a species of currant known by the common names alpine gooseberry and woolly-flowered gooseberry. It is native to California, where it can be found in the San Gabriel Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, its distribution extending just into Nevada.
Ribes nevadense is a species of currant known by the common names Sierra currant and mountain pink currant.
Ribes roezlii is a North American species of currant known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.
Ribes thacherianum, with the common name Santa Cruz gooseberry, or Santa Cruz Island gooseberry, is a rare North American species of currant found only on one island off the coast of California.
Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.
Ribes victoris is an uncommon North American species of currant known by the common name Victor's gooseberry. It is endemic to California, where it grows in the chaparral and woods of canyons in the San Francisco Bay Area and counties to the north, as far as Humboldt County.