Aquatic and Wetland Vascular Plants of the Northern Great Plains
24. Grossulariaceae, the Gooseberry Family
1. Ribes L. -- Currant, gooseberry1. Ribes americanum Mill. -- Wild black currant
Shrub 1-1.5 m tall, the branches erect to spreading; stems unarmed, the new growth closely pubescent; twigs gray to grayish-brown and glabrous, blackish with age, often with low corky wings decurrent from the nodes. Leaves 3-lobed and usually with 2 shallow basal lobes, 2-6(9) cm long, 2.5-8(11) cm wide, dotted with shiny, yellow to brown resinous glands especially beneath, glabrous or puberulent above, hirsute beneath, coarsely serrate or crenate-serrate, broadly rounded to cordate at the base; petioles shorter than to longer than the blade, ciliate and pubescent. Inflorescences racemose, 6- to 15-flowered, drooping, 3-8 cm long, the axis short-pubescent; bracts linear-lanceolate, exceeding the pedicels; pedicels 2-5 mm long. Flowers greenish-white to cream-colored, 8-12 mm long; sepals erect to spreading, oblong, 4-5 mm long, rounded; petals creamy white, 2-3 mm long; stamens about equaling the petals; styles united nearly to the tip; hypanthium campanulate in flower, tubular in fruit, 3-4.5 mm long. Fruit a black berry, 6-10 mm in diameter. Flowering May--June, fruiting Jul--Aug. Marsh and lake borders, wet meadows, stream banks, floodplains and moist woods; common; (N.B. to Alta., s to DE, WV, IN, NE and NM).
 Ribes americanum, in flower. |
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