- 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 | |
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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 Douglas, 1830 | |
Varieties [2] | |
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Synonyms [2] | |
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Ribes cereum is a species of currant known by the common names wax currant [3] and squaw currant; [4] 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. [5] The stems are fuzzy, often very glandular, and lack spines and prickles. The gray-green leaves are somewhat rounded and divided into shallow lobes [4] 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 [4] up to 1 cm (3⁄8 in) wide, with a characteristically long, dried flower remnant at the end. [5]
The plant is aromatic, with a spicy scent. [5] The hairs on much of the plant can contribute to a carrion-like odor. [4]
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. [6]
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. [7]
The berries are a significant food source for deer [4] and are consumed by other animals. [8]
Some Native American tribes ate the berries. [9] The Zuni people eat the berries of the pedicellare variety, as well as the leaves with uncooked mutton fat or deer fat. [10] One field guide reports that the berries are somewhat toxic and can have an unpleasant flavor. [11] Eating too many may cause a burning feeling in the throat. [4] One source says they are good when ripe, and can be made into jam or pie fillings. [9]
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.
Philadelphus lewisii, the Lewis' mock-orange, mock-orange, Gordon's mockorange, wild mockorange,Indian arrowwood, or syringa, is a deciduous shrub native to western North America, and is the state flower of Idaho.
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.
Fritillaria pudica, the yellow fritillary, is a small perennial plant found in the sagebrush country in the western United States and Canada. It is a member of the lily family Liliaceae. Another common name is "yellow bells", since it has a bell-shaped yellow flower. It may be found in dryish, loose soil; it is amongst the first plants to flower after the snow melts, but the flower does not last very long; as the petals age, they turn a brick-red colour and begin to curl outward. The flowers grow singly or in pairs on the stems, and the floral parts grow in multiples of threes. The species produces a small corm, which forms corms earning the genus the nickname 'riceroot'. During his historic journey, Meriwether Lewis collected a specimen while passing through Idaho in 1806.
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.
Astragalus purshii is a species of milkvetch known by the common names woollypod milkvetch and Pursh's milkvetch.
Balsamorhiza sagittata is a North American species of flowering plant in the tribe Heliantheae of the family Asteraceae known by the common name arrowleaf balsamroot. Also sometimes called Oregon sunflower, it is widespread across western Canada and much of the western United States.
Chrysothamnus viscidiflorus is an American species of shrub in the family Asteraceae known by the common names yellow rabbitbrush and green rabbitbrush.
Crepis modocensis is a species of flowering plant in the family Asteraceae known by the common name Modoc hawksbeard.
Ribes hudsonianum is a North American species of currant, known by the common name northern black currant.
Ribes montigenum is a species of currant known by the common names mountain gooseberry, alpine prickly currant, western prickly gooseberry, and gooseberry currant. It is native to western North America from Washington south to California and east as far as the Rocky Mountains, where it grows in high mountain habitat types in subalpine and alpine climates, such as forests and talus. It is a spreading shrub growing up to 1.5 meters tall, the branching stems covered in prickles and hairs and bearing 1 to 5 sharp spines at intervals.
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 gooseberry known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.
Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.
Trifolium macrocephalum is a species of clover known by the common name largehead clover or bighead clover native to the Great Basin region of the western United States.
Symphoricarpos oreophilus is a North American species of flowering plant in the Caprifoliaceae, or honeysuckle family, known by the common name mountain snowberry. It has a wide distribution in western Canada, the United States, and northwestern Mexico. It is found in mountainous areas such as the Cascades, the Sierra Nevada, the Rockies, and the Sierra Madre Occidental from British Columbia to the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua, from the coastal states as far inland as the Black Hills, the Oklahoma Panhandle, and trans-Pecos Texas.
Eriogonum niveum is a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family known by the common name snow buckwheat. It is native to the Pacific Northwest of North America, where it occurs in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. It flowers late in the summer.
Ribes niveum is a North American species of currant known by the common names snowy gooseberry, white-flowered gooseberry, or snow currant. It is native to the western United States.