Bristly Gooseberry - Ribes oxyacanthoides ssp. setosum
Other Names:
Ribes setosum
Stems erect to ascending, 1–1.5 m with 1 to 3 straight to slightly curved nodal spines. Twigs puberulent, sometimes bristly, tan becoming gray. Leaf blades 1–5 cm wide, cordate, 3- to 5-lobed, deeply crenate, glabrous to pubescent, often glandular beneath. Inflorescence of 2 to 3 flowers, drooping, shorter than the leaves. Flowers tubular-campanulate, white to pink, 7–12 mm long, glabrous; calyx lobes oblong, 3–5 mm long; petals 2–3 mm long, white to pink; stamens ca. as long as the petals; styles hairy, united ca. half way. Berry black, 6–10 mm long, glabrous, edible. Lesica (2012) treats this as a distinct species (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Open forest, woodlands, thickets, steppe, often along streams; plains, valleys, montane (
Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
POLLINATORS The following animal species have been reported as pollinators of this plant species or its genus where their geographic ranges overlap:
Bombus vagans,
Bombus bifarius,
Bombus centralis,
Bombus fervidus,
Bombus flavifrons,
Bombus huntii,
Bombus melanopygus,
Bombus mixtus,
Bombus nevadensis,
Bombus terricola,
Bombus sitkensis,
Bombus occidentalis,
Bombus pensylvanicus,
Bombus bimaculatus,
Bombus impatiens,
Bombus insularis, and
Bombus flavidus (Plath 1934, Thorp et al. 1983, Colla and Dumesh 2010, Koch et al. 2012, Williams et al. 2014).