Montana Field Guide

Stems erect to ascending, 1–2 m with 1–3 straight nodal spines. Twigs puberulent with sparse bristles, brown becoming gray. Leaf blades 1–6 cm wide, cordate to truncate, 3- to 5-lobed, deeply crenate, glandular and/or pubescent on both surfaces. Inflorescence of 1 to 3 flowers, drooping. Flowers campanulate, green to red, 6–11 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 united ca. half their length. Berry purple, 6–11 mm long, glabrous. Treated by Lesica (2012) as a distinct species (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).

Previous reports of Ribes cognatum in Montana are generally referrable here.

Open forest, woodlands, often along streams; 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).