Monthly Archives: September 2016

Coast Black Gooseberry, Ribes divaricatum

Coast Black Gooseberry                The Currant Family–Grossulariaceae

Ribes divaricatum Douglas

(rye-BEEZ  di-vair-ih-KAY-tum)

coast-black-gooseberryNames:  This species has many common names including Wild Black Gooseberry, Spreading Gooseberry, Coast (or Coastal) Black Gooseberry (or Currant), Straggly Gooseberry (or Currant), and Straggle Bush.  In the UK it is known as Worcesterberry.  Divaricatum means spreading or branching with two forks.

Relationships:  Currants and gooseberries belong to the genus Ribes (from the Arabic or Persian word ribas meaning acid-tasting).  Some taxonomists separate gooseberries into the genus or subgenus, grossularia.  In general, gooseberry plants have prickles; currants do not.  Ribes is the only genus in grossulariaceae; which is closely allied with escalloniaceae, and iteaceae; all formerly included in saxifragaceae.  There are about 150 species of Ribes in the temperate regions of the northern hemisphere, northwest Africa, Central America and in the Andes of South America; with about 50 native to North America.  30 are listed in the Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest.  About 7-8 are native to the west side of the Cascades with about a dozen more found chiefly on the east side of the Cascades and ~17 limited to California or Oregon. Coast Black Gooseberry is one of the parents of the cultivated variety, Jostaberry, which is a complex cross in the Ribes genus, commonly described as a cross between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant.

Distribution of Coast Black Currant from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Coast Black Gooseberry from USDA Plants Database

Distribution: Coast Black Gooseberry is found from southern British Columbia to the south-central California coast; mostly on the west side of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington.

Growth: It grows 4-9 feet (1.5-3m) tall.

Habitat: It can be found in open woods, prairies and moist hillsides. Wetland designation: FAC*, Facultative, it is equally likely to occur in wetlands or non-wetlands.

 

 

 

 

ribes-divaricatumDiagnostic Characters: Coast Black Gooseberry stems grow erect, tending to arch, or they spread with 1-3 stout, chestnut-colored spines at the nodes with occasionally bristles on the internodes (more frequent on young twigs).  Bark is gray to somewhat brownish.  Leaves are usually 3-lobed, the lower lobes unequally divided again.  The leaf petioles are often longer than the leaf blades.  Flowers are borne in fuchsia-like, drooping clusters of 2-3.  The 5-lobed calyx is usually red or red-green; 5 petals are white to red; 5 stamens and 2 styles extend past calyx lobes.  Purplish-black berries are round and smooth.

 

 

In the Landscape:  Coast Black Gooseberry is a little too wild and wicked for a formal garden, but can find a place in a wild garden away from paths where an unsuspecting ambler could be poked by its nasty spines.  Flowers are small but a colorful red and white.

ribes-divaricatum-flowerPhenology: Bloom time:  April-May;  Fruit ripens:  July-August.

Propagation:  It is easily grown from seed sown outside or in a cold frame in fall. Stored seed may be stratified at 35º F (2º C) for 120 days.  Hardwood cuttings taken in fall or semi-hardwood, earlier in summer, are also possible.

 

 

 

 

 

Use by People:  Natives variously ate the berries fresh, dried them for storage or baked them into cakes. Unripe berries were sometimes eaten fresh, dried or made into a sauce. The inner bark was chewed and swallowed to treat a sore throat and cold.  The bark or roots were boiled and used as an eyewash, or for sore throats.  The Nisqually used the spines for tattooing using charcoal for coloring.  Some consider this to be one of the finest of the wild North American gooseberries.  It is sweet and juicy, though a bit on the acid side, with a “very acceptable flavor.”

Use by Wildlife:  The flowers attract hummingbirds.  The berries attract many birds including grosbeaks.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn


 

Trailing Black Currant, Ribes laxiflorum

Trailing Black Currant                                                            The Currant Family—Grossulariaceae
Ribes laxiflorum Pursh
(rye-BEEZ Lax-ih-FLOOR-um)
Names: Trailing Black Currant is also known as Spreading Currant. Laxiflorum means loose-flowered.

Distribution: It is found from southern Alaska to northwestern California, mostly west of the Cascades and along the coast; it can also be found in isolated areas of the Rocky Mountains, from Alberta to New Mexico, more frequently in Colorado. It also is native to Siberia.

Distribution of Trailing Black Currant from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Trailing Black Currant from USDA Plants Database

Growth: This species usually trails or spreads along the ground, reaching less than 3 feet (1m); but it can grow, vine-like, up to 21 feet (7m) tall.

Habitat:  It grows in in dense woods and wet, coastal forests and mountain slopes.
Diagnostic Characters: Leaves have 5 sharp-pointed lobes with toothed margins; they are heart-shaped at the base, smooth on top, and hairy-glandular below, with a strong odor when bruised. Six to twenty greenish-white to reddish purple flowers are borne on ascending or erect clusters. Fruits are purplish-black berries with glandular hairs and a waxy bloom.
In the Landscape: This species has potential to perform well as a groundcover in the garden.

Phenology: Bloom time: Late March-early May; Fruit ripens: Summer.
Propagation: Methods are likely to be the same as for other currants.

Use by People: The berries were eaten fresh, boiled or as preserves by native tribes. An infusion of the roots or branches was used to make an eyewash. The bark was boiled and used as a cold medicine and for tuberculosis. The stems were used for pipe stems.

Use by Wildlife: The berries are enjoyed by birds.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Jepson Eflora, University of California

Calphotos

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet

Plants for a Future Database

Native American Ethnobotany, University of Michigan, Dearborn

Mapleleaf Currant, Ribes acerifolium

Mapleleaf Currant                             The Currant Family—Grossulariaceae

Ribes acerifolium Howell

(rye-BEEZ  ay-ser-ih-FOAL-ee-um)

Names:  Ribes acerifolium is also known as R. howellii.  Both the common name and the specific epithet, acerifolium, refer to its maple shaped leaves.  It was named and described by Thomas Jefferson Howell, an Oregon botanist.

Distribution of Maple-leaf Currant from USDA Plants Database

Distribution of Maple-leaf Currant from USDA Plants Database

Distribution: This species is found from southwestern British Columbia to central Oregon; to Idaho in the east; mostly in the Cascade and the Olympic Mountains; but “also at the mouth of the Columbia River,” and on Vancouver Island.

Growth: Mapleleaf Currant is a small shrub to 3 feet (1m) tall.

 

 

 

Habitat: It grows in the mountains, along streams, in meadows and on open, rocky ridges.  Its small, maple-shaped leaves have five lobes and are finely hairy.  Seven to fifteen greenish-bronze to pinkish flowers are borne on drooping clusters.  Black, round berries have a whitish bloom and are slightly hairy.

In the Landscape: This species has good potential in the garden where a smaller shrub is desired.

Phenology: Bloom time: June-August; Fruit ripens: Autumn.

Propagation:  Methods are likely to be the same as for other currants.

Links:

USDA Plants Database

Consortium of Pacific Northwest Herbaria

WTU Herbarium Image Collection, Plants of Washington, Burke Museum

E-Flora BC, Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Virginia Tech ID Fact Sheet