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alpine prickly currant, gooseberry currant, mountain gooseberry, western prickly gooseberry

Habit Plants 0.7–1.5 m. Stems spreading or decumbent, copiously pubescent, puberulent, and stipitate-glandular; spines at nodes 1–5, (1.5–)4–6(–10) mm; prickles on internodes sparse to dense.
Leaves

petiole 0.7–4(–5) cm, pubescent, stipitate-glandular;

blade pentagonal, irregularly 5-lobed, cleft 2/3–3/4 to midrib, (0.5–)1–3.5(–4) cm, base cordate, surfaces densely pubescent or stipitate-glandular, lobes cuneate-rounded, margins irregularly serrate, toothed apex somewhat acute.

Inflorescences

pendent, 3–8(–11)-flowered racemes, 2–3 cm, axis puberulent, stipitate-glandular, flowers evenly spaced.

Pedicels

jointed, 1–4(–5) mm, puberulent, stipitate-glandular;

bracts lanceolate-ovate, 1.3–3 mm, puberulent, stipitate-glandular.

Flowers

hypanthium pinkish to orangish, saucer-shaped, 0.5–1.5 mm, pubescent and stipitate-glandular abaxially, glabrous adaxially;

sepals separated, spreading, green to yellowish, pink, red, orange, or white, sometimes with pale yellow, scarious margins, broadly ovate to obovate, 2.5–4 mm;

petals widely separated, erect, red, pinkish, or purplish, cuneate-lunate, not conspicuously revolute or inrolled, 0.9–1.5 mm;

nectary disc yellowish, pinkish, or red, flat, 5-angled, covering most of ovary;

stamens as long as petals;

filaments linear, (0.5–)0.9–1.6 mm, glabrous;

anthers yellow or cream, oblate to transversely elliptic, 0.5–0.8 mm, broader than long, apex notched;

ovary sparsely to thickly, usually purplish glandular-bristly;

styles connate ca. 4/5 their lengths, 1.1–1.8 mm, glabrous.

Berries

somewhat palatable, bright red, obovoid-spheric, 5–10 mm, glandular-bristly.

Ribes montigenum

Phenology Flowering Jun–Aug.
Habitat Exposed ridges, open woods and slopes, talus
Elevation 1300-4800 m (4300-15700 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
AZ; CA; CO; ID; MT; NM; NV; OR; UT; WA; WY; BC
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

The lobed, yellowish, pinkish, or red nectary discs and purplish red filaments of Ribes montigenum are striking.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 26.
Parent taxa Grossulariaceae > Ribes
Sibling taxa
R. acerifolium, R. amarum, R. americanum, R. aureum, R. binominatum, R. bracteosum, R. californicum, R. canthariforme, R. cereum, R. curvatum, R. cynosbati, R. diacanthum, R. divaricatum, R. echinellum, R. erythrocarpum, R. glandulosum, R. hirtellum, R. hudsonianum, R. indecorum, R. inerme, R. lacustre, R. lasianthum, R. laxiflorum, R. leptanthum, R. lobbii, R. malvaceum, R. marshallii, R. menziesii, R. mescalerium, R. missouriense, R. nevadaense, R. nigrum, R. niveum, R. oxyacanthoides, R. pinetorum, R. quercetorum, R. roezlii, R. rotundifolium, R. rubrum, R. sanguineum, R. sericeum, R. speciosum, R. thacherianum, R. triste, R. tularense, R. uva-crispa, R. velutinum, R. viburnifolium, R. victoris, R. viscosissimum, R. watsonianum, R. wolfii
Synonyms R. nubigenum
Name authority McClatchie: Erythea 5: 38. 1897 ,
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