Burke: Ribes divaricatum

	Ribes divaricatum
	coast black gooseberry, straggly gooseberry
Habit	Erect to spreading shrub 1.5-3 m. tall, pubescent throughout, the branches arching, with gray to brownish bark, and 1-3 stout, chestnut-colored spines at the nodes.
Leaves	Leaves alternate, palmately veined, broadly ovate, 2-6 cm. wide, rounded to cordate at the base, with rounded serrations, tri-lobed over half their length, the lower sections often shallowly cleft into 2 lobes.
Flowers	Inflorescence of 2- to 3-flowered, drooping, slender racemes, shorter than the leaves; pedicels slender, 5-10 mm. long; calyx red to reddish-green, glabrous to pubescent, the calyx tube conic, 2.5 mm. long, the 5 lobes narrowly oblong, 5-7 mm. long, recurved; petals 5, white to red, obovate, 1.5-2.5 mm. long; stamens 5, longer than the calyx lobes; styles 2, fused half their length, the fused half villous; ovary inferior.
Fruits	Berry globose, smooth, purplish-black, about 1 cm. long.

	Ribes divaricatum
Flowering time	April-May
Habitat	Moist hillsides, prairies and open woods at low elevations.
Distribution	Occurring chiefly west of the Cascades crest and along the Columbia River Gorge in Washington; British Columbia to California. [WildflowerSearch map] [BONAP county map]
Origin	Native
Conservation status	Not of concern
Sibling taxa	R. acerifolium, R. aureum, R. bracteosum, R. cereum, R. hudsonianum, R. inerme, R. lacustre, R. laxiflorum, R. lobbii, R. montigenum, R. nigrum, R. niveum, R. oxyacanthoides, R. rubrum, R. sanguineum, R. triste, R. velutinum, R. viscosissimum, R. watsonianum, R. wolfii
Subordinate taxa	R. divaricatum var. divaricatum
Web links	Local floras: BC, CA, OR, WA Local Web sites: CalFlora, CalPhotos, Flora NW, PNW Herbaria, Turner Photog. WildflowerSearch iNaturalist (observations) USDA Plants Database LBJ Wildflower Center SEINet Plants of the World Online Encyclopedia of Life Wikipedia Google Image Search

Ribes divaricatum

coast black gooseberry, straggly gooseberry

Habit

Erect to spreading shrub 1.5-3 m. tall, pubescent throughout, the branches arching, with gray to brownish bark, and 1-3 stout, chestnut-colored spines at the nodes.

Leaves

Leaves alternate, palmately veined, broadly ovate, 2-6 cm. wide, rounded to cordate at the base, with rounded serrations, tri-lobed over half their length, the lower sections often shallowly cleft into 2 lobes.

Flowers

Inflorescence of 2- to 3-flowered, drooping, slender racemes, shorter than the leaves;

pedicels slender, 5-10 mm. long;

calyx red to reddish-green, glabrous to pubescent, the calyx tube conic, 2.5 mm. long, the 5 lobes narrowly oblong, 5-7 mm. long, recurved;

petals 5, white to red, obovate, 1.5-2.5 mm. long;

stamens 5, longer than the calyx lobes;

styles 2, fused half their length, the fused half villous;

ovary inferior.

Fruits

Berry globose, smooth, purplish-black, about 1 cm. long.