Ribes viscosissimum
Encyclopedia
Ribes viscosissimum is a species of currant
known by the common name sticky currant. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
and Alberta
to California
to Colorado
, where it grows in mountain forests, streambanks, and plateau sagebrush
. It is a spreading to erect shrub
growing one to two meters in maximum height, its stem coated in sticky glandular hairs and lacking spines and bristles. It is resinous and fragrant. The highly glandular leaves have thick, rough blades divided into rounded, toothed lobes. The blades may be 8 centimeters long, borne on petioles
up to 10 centimeters in length. The inflorescence
is an erect or drooping raceme
of several flowers clustered together. Each flower has a bell-shaped coat of five whitish, greenish, or pink-tinged sepal
s which spread at the tips into a corolla-like array, sometimes becoming reflexed. Inside are whitish petals surrounding the stamen
s and stigmas
. The fruit is an edible blue-black berry
a centimeter long or longer.
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 sticky currant. It is native to western North America from British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
and Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
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...
to Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, where it grows in mountain forests, streambanks, and plateau sagebrush
Sagebrush
Sagebrush is a common name of a number of shrubby plant species in the genus Artemisia native to western North America;Or, the sagebrush steppe ecoregion, having one or more kinds of sagebrush, bunchgrasses and others;...
. It is a spreading to erect 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 to two meters in maximum height, its stem coated in sticky glandular hairs and lacking spines and bristles. It is resinous and fragrant. The highly glandular leaves have thick, rough blades divided into rounded, toothed lobes. The blades may be 8 centimeters long, borne on petioles
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole is the stalk attaching the leaf blade to the stem. The petiole usually has the same internal structure as the stem. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole are called stipules. Leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile, or clasping when they partly surround the...
up to 10 centimeters in length. 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 or drooping 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 several flowers clustered together. Each flower has a bell-shaped coat of five whitish, greenish, or pink-tinged 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 spread at the tips into a corolla-like array, sometimes becoming reflexed. Inside are whitish petals surrounding the stamen
Stamen
The stamen is the pollen producing reproductive organ of a flower...
s and stigmas
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 an edible blue-black 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....
a centimeter long or longer.