Kingdom Plantae Family Grossulariaceae Scientific name Ribes divaricatum Rank Species | Order Saxifragales Genus Ribes Higher classification Currant | |
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Similar Currant, Ribes bracteosum, Ribes cynosbati, Ribes inerme, Ribes petraeum | ||
Ribes divaricatum is a species of in the genus Ribes found in the forests, woodlands, and coastal scrub of western North America from British Columbia to California. The three accepted varieties have various common names which include the word "gooseberry".
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Other common names include coast black gooseberry, wild gooseberry and, in the UK, Worcesterberry.
Description
Ribes divaricatum is a shrub sometimes reaching 3 meters in height with woody branches with one to three thick brown thorns at leaf nodes. The leaves are generally palmate in shape and edged with teeth. The blades are up to 6 centimeters long and borne on petioles.
The inflorescence is a small cluster of hanging flowers, each with reflexed purple-tinted green sepals and smaller, lighter petals encircling long, protruding stamens. The fruit is a sweet-tasting berry up to a centimeter wide which is black when ripe. It is similar to Ribes lacustre and Ribes lobbii, but the former has smaller, reddish to maroon flowers and the latter has reddish flowers that resemble those of fuchsias and sticky leaves.
Berries
The berries are eatable, and are ripe when black.
Traditional Native American medical plants
The fruit was food for a number of Native American groups of the Pacific Northwest, and other parts of the plant, especially the bark, was used for medicinal purposes.
