Ribes thacherianum

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Ribes thacherianum
H20150115-3749--Ribes thacherianum--RPBG (16288808722).jpg
R. thacherianum growing in Escondido, California
Status TNC G2.svg
Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Species:
R. thacherianum
Binomial name
Ribes thacherianum
(Jeps.) Munz 1958 [1]
Synonyms [1] [2]

R. menziesii var. thacherianumJeps. 1936 (basionym)

Contents

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. [3]

<i>Ribes</i> genus of plants

Ribes is a genus of about 150 known species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae, but a few taxonomists place the gooseberry species in a separate genus of Grossularia. Sometimes Ribes is instead included in the family Saxifragaceae.

Description

Ribes thacherianum is an erect shrub growing to a maximum height around 2.5 meters (over 8 feet). The stems are coated in soft light hairs and bristles, and many of the stem nodes bear hard spines. The leaves are 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8-1.2 inches) long and shallowly divided into five dully toothed lobes. [4]

Shrub type of plant

A shrub or bush is a small- to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple stems and shorter height, less than 6 m-10 m (20 ft–33 ft) tall. Small shrubs, less than 2 m (6.6 ft) tall are sometimes termed subshrubs.

The inflorescence is made up of one or two flowers. Each flower has five reflexed pink sepals around a tube made up of smaller white petals. The stamens and stigmas protrude from the corolla. The fruit is a purple berry about 7 millimeters wide which is covered densely in bristles and hairs. [4]

Inflorescence Term used in botany to describe a cluster of flowers

An inflorescence is a group or cluster of flowers arranged on a stem that is composed of a main branch or a complicated arrangement of branches. Morphologically, it is the modified part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed. The modifications can involve the length and the nature of the internodes and the phyllotaxis, as well as variations in the proportions, compressions, swellings, adnations, connations and reduction of main and secondary axes. Inflorescence can also be defined as the reproductive portion of a plant that bears a cluster of flowers in a specific pattern.

Sepal part of a calyx

A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms. Usually green, sepals typically function as protection for the flower in bud, and often as support for the petals when in bloom. The term sepalum was coined by Noël Martin Joseph de Necker in 1790, and derived from the Greek σκέπη, a covering.

Stamen floral organ

The stamen is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium.

Distribution

Ribes thacherianum is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the northern Channel Islands of California, and within Channel Islands National Park. [3] It grows in the pine woodlands of the coastal ravines.

Endemism Ecological state of being unique to a defined geographic location or habitat

Endemism is the ecological state of a species being unique to a defined geographic location, such as an island, nation, country or other defined zone, or habitat type; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsewhere. The extreme opposite of endemism is cosmopolitan distribution. An alternative term for a species that is endemic is precinctive, which applies to species that are restricted to a defined geographical area.

Santa Cruz Island island in the United States of America

Santa Cruz Island is the largest of the eight islands in the Channel Islands and also the largest island in California, located off the coast of California. The island, in the northern group of the Channel Islands, is 22 miles (35 km) long and from 2 to 6 miles wide with an area of 61,764.6 acres (249.952 km2). Santa Cruz Island is located within Santa Barbara County, California. The coastline has steep cliffs, gigantic sea caves, coves, and sandy beaches. Defined by the United States Census Bureau as Block 3000, Block Group 3, Census Tract 29.10 of Santa Barbara County, the 2000 census showed an official population of two persons. The highest peak is Devils Peak, at 2450+ feet. It was the largest privately owned island off the continental United States but is currently jointly owned by the National Park Service (24%), and the Nature Conservancy (76%).

Channel Islands National Park national park of the United States

Channel Islands National Park is an American national park that consists of five of the eight Channel Islands off the coast of the U.S. state of California, in the Pacific Ocean. Although the islands are close to the shore of densely populated Southern California, their isolation has left them relatively undeveloped. The park covers 249,561 acres (100,994 ha) of which 79,019 acres (31,978 ha) are owned by the federal government. The Nature Conservancy owns and manages 76% of Santa Cruz Island, the largest island in the park.

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<i>Ribes cereum</i> species of plant

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<i>Ribes viscosissimum</i> species of plant

Ribes viscosissimum is a North American species of currant known by the common name sticky currant. It is native to the Pacific Northwest, Columbia Plateau, Great Plains, Great Basin and Southwestern regions of western North America.

References

  1. 1 2  In: Aliso. A series of papers on the native plants of California 4: 92. 1958. "Plant Name Details for Ribes thacherianum". IPNI . Retrieved July 21, 2010. Notes: R. menziesii var. thacherianum
  2.  Treated as Ribes menziesii variety thacherianum, this species was first described and published in A Flora of California 2: 156. 1936 "Plant Name Details for Ribes menziesii var. thacherianum". IPNI. Retrieved July 21, 2010.
  3. 1 2 Calflora taxon report, University of California, Ribes thacherianum (Jepson) Munz, Santa Cruz Island gooseberry, Santa Cruz gooseberry
  4. 1 2 Flora of North America