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Trailing Black Currant - Ribes laxiflorum
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
Rare in Montana, where it is known from a single collection from Lincoln County. The documented population does not appear to be at risk. Additional data are needed.
General Description
Trailing Black Currant is a prostrate to upright shrub usually less than 1 m high, with branches that may be pubescent when young but become smooth and deep reddish-brown. Leaves are mostly 4-8 cm across and usually wider than long, and 5-lobed nearly half the length. Infloresences are loosely 8-18 flowered, erect or ascending, and copiously pubescent with stalked glands throughout. Flowers are shallowly bowl-shaped, with a pubescent calyx that is greenish-white too deep red or purplish, and petals that are red to purplish. The berry is purplish-black and glandular-bristly.
Phenology
Possibly flowering in May, fruit persisting through summer.
Diagnostic Characteristics
Distinguished from the other species of Ribes that lack spines and bristles by the saucer-shaped base of the flower and glandular fruit.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
AK south to CA, ID, MT. Known from Lincoln County (Lesica et al. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. BRIT Press. Fort Worth, TX).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 3
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Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Rocky montane shrubland slopes.
Ecological Systems Associated with this Species
Ecology
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).
Threats or Limiting Factors
STATE THREAT SCORE REASON
Threat impact not assigned because threats are not known (MTNHP Threat Assessment 2021).
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Colla, S.R. and S. Dumesh. 2010. The bumble bees of southern Ontario: notes on natural history and distribution. Journal of the Entomological Society of Ontario 141:39-68.- Koch, J., J. Strange, and P. Williams. 2012. Bumble bees of the western United States. Washington, DC: USDA Forest Service, Pollinator Partnership. 143 p.
- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2012. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 771 p.
- Plath, O.E. 1934. Bumblebees and their ways. New York, NY: Macmillan Company. 201 p.
- Thorp, R.W., D.S. Horning, and L.L. Dunning. 1983. Bumble bees and cuckoo bumble bees of California (Hymenoptera: Apidae). Bulletin of the California Insect Survey 23:1-79.
- Williams, P., R. Thorp, L. Richardson, and S. Colla. 2014. Bumble Bees of North America. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 208 p.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Lesica, P., M.T. Lavin, and P.F. Stickney. 2022. Manual of Montana Vascular Plants, Second Edition. Fort Worth, TX: BRIT Press. viii + 779 p.
- Simanonok, M. 2018. Plant-pollinator network assembly after wildfire. Ph.D. Dissertation. Bozeman, MT: Montana State University. 123 p.
- Simanonok, M.P. and L.A. Burkle. 2019. Nesting success of wood-cavity-nesting bees declines with increasing time since wildfire. Ecology and Evolution 9:12436-12445.
- Web Search Engines for Articles on "Trailing Black Currant"
