Ribes lasianthum
Encyclopedia
Ribes lasianthum is a species of currant
known by the common name alpine 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
. It grows in high mountain habitat, often in open areas. It is a spreading shrub
growing one half to one meter in height. It has fuzzy, prickly stems, the nodes bearing spines up to a centimeter long. The hairy, glandular leaves are one to two centimeters long and divided into toothed lobes. The inflorescence
is an erect raceme
of two to four flowers, each less than a centimeters long. The flower has five yellow sepal
s which are reflexed away from the central corolla, a neat tube of yellow petals. Within the tube are five stamen
s and two styles
. The fruit is a hairless red berry
measuring 6 to 7 millimeters wide.
Ribes
Ribes is a genus of about 150 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. Seven subgenera are recognized....
known by the common name alpine gooseberry. It is native to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where it can be found in the San Gabriel Mountains
San Gabriel Mountains
The San Gabriel Mountains Range is located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert, with Interstate 5 to the west and Interstate 15 to the east...
and the Sierra Nevada, its distribution extending just into Nevada
Nevada
Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...
. It grows in high mountain habitat, often in open areas. It is a spreading shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
growing one half to one meter in height. It has fuzzy, prickly stems, the nodes bearing spines up to a centimeter long. The hairy, glandular leaves are one to two centimeters long and divided into toothed lobes. The inflorescence
Inflorescence
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. Strictly, it is the part of the shoot of seed plants where flowers are formed and which is accordingly modified...
is an erect raceme
Raceme
A raceme is a type of inflorescence that is unbranched and indeterminate and bears pedicellate flowers — flowers having short floral stalks called pedicels — along the axis. In botany, axis means a shoot, in this case one bearing the flowers. In a raceme, the oldest flowers are borne...
of two to four flowers, each less than a centimeters long. The flower has five yellow sepal
Sepal
A sepal is a part of the flower of angiosperms . Collectively the sepals form the calyx, which is the outermost whorl of parts that form a flower. Usually green, sepals have the typical function of protecting the petals when the flower is in bud...
s which are reflexed away from the central corolla, a neat tube of yellow petals. Within the tube are five stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s and two styles
Gynoecium
Gynoecium is most commonly used as a collective term for all carpels in a flower. A carpel is the ovule and seed producing reproductive organ in flowering plants. Carpels are derived from ovule-bearing leaves which evolved to form a closed structure containing the ovules...
. The fruit is a hairless red berry
Berry
The botanical definition of a berry is a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary. Grapes are an example. The berry is the most common type of fleshy fruit in which the entire ovary wall ripens into an edible pericarp. They may have one or more carpels with a thin covering and fleshy interiors....
measuring 6 to 7 millimeters wide.