Ribes bracteosum

Plants 1–4 m. Stems erect, with dense, yellowish, shiny, sessile, crystalline, round glands, sparsely pubescent throughout; spines at nodes absent; prickles on internodes absent. Leaves: petiole 2–10 cm, sparsely pubescent; blade ovate, deeply 5–7-lobed, cleft 1/2+ to midrib, (1.5–) 2–10 (–22) cm, base cordate, surfaces with yellow, dull, sessile glands and sparse hairs abaxially, with yellow, shiny, sessile glands and glabrous adaxially, lobes with main segments ovatelanceolate, margins 1–2 times sharply serrate, apex acute, shallowly lobed. Inflorescences ascending to erect, 20–50-flowered racemes, (10–) 15–30 cm, axis sparsely pubescent, flowers evenly spaced. Pedicels jointed, 5–12 mm, pubescent and glandular; bracts conspicuous, proximal ones ovate, lobed, distal ones narrowly oblong, unlobed, (3–) 4–5 mm, sparsely glandular and pubescent. Flowers: hypanthium green, saucer-shaped, widely flared, 0.5–1.5 mm, ± pubescent and sparsely glandular abaxially, glabrous adaxially; sepals nearly to somewhat overlapping, spreading, brownish purple to greenish or sometimes nearly white, ovatelanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 3–5 mm; petals widely separated, erect, white, cuneate-flabelliform, not conspicuously revolute or inrolled, 1 mm; nectary disc wine red, thick, lobed, covering and submerging ovary; stamens slightly longer than petals; filaments linear to slightly broader at base, 1 mm, glabrous; anthers white, transversely oblong-cordate, 0.5 mm, broader than long, apex shallowly notched; ovary somewhat hairy and densely sessile-glandular; styles connate 1/4–1/2 their lengths, 1 mm, glabrous or hairy. Berries bland, black, subglobose, 8–10 mm, glandular. 2n = 16.

Phenology: Flowering Feb–Jun.
Habitat: Stream banks, moist woods, floodplains, shorelines, thickets, avalanche tracks
Elevation: 0-1700 m

B.C., Alaska, Calif., Oreg., Wash.

Discussion

Ribes bracteosum occurs along the Pacific Coast from southeastern Alaska to northern California. Its thin leaves have a sweetish, disagreeable odor and the conspicuous bracts bear acicular, mostly persistent processes near the base along the slightly winged, stipular margins.

Selected References

None.

Lower Taxa