Relatives
Grossularia burejensis (Fr. Schmidt) Berger - Bureya gooseberry.
Taxonomic position.
Family Grossulariaceae Hill, genus Grossularia Mill.Morphology and biology.
Shrub up to 1 m high. Internodes of old shoots are densely covered with thorns, with grey bark. Spines in the nodes are usually 5-7-partite, up to 1 cm long. Younger shoots are yellowish-grey. Leaves have sharp lobes with a larger upper one, 1.5-5.0 cm in diameter, with obtuse dentation, from naked to pubescent on both sides; younger ones are often glandular-bristly along the veins from below. Petioles are shorter than the blade. Flowers, single or more rarely 2-3 together, are set on white-tomentose glandular pedicels in leaf axils on biennial and older branches. The calyx is funnel-shaped; sepals are white-tomentose on the outside. Berries are dirty green, globular, up to 10 mm in diameter, glandular-bristly, edible.Heliophilous. Blossoms from early May; berries ripen in August. Propagated by layers and softwood cuttings. 2n = 12, 24.
Distribution.
Russian Far East (areas in lower Zeya, basins of Bureya and Ussuri) - everywhere sparsely; China, Korea, Japan.Ecology.
Mesophyte, petrophyte. Grows in mountainous coniferous forests, on mountainsides, on the rocks along river valleys and mountain brooks.Utilization and economic value.
Used for food (berries). Nectariferous and medicinal plant. Local population use berries to make jam, wine and syrups. Interesting as a source for breeding. Winter-hardy and drought-resistant, insusceptible to American mildew. Ornamental plant. May be used as such for single and group plantings, alpine garden-stands and afforestation of mountainsides.References:
Brezhnev, D.D., Korovina, O.N. Wild relatives of cultivated plants in the USSR flora. - Leningrad: Kolos, 1981. - p. 146.Koropachinskiy I.Yu., Vstovskaya T.N. Woody plants of the Asian part of Russia. - Novosibirsk: Publishing House of SB RAS, Branch "Geo", 2002. - p. 269.
Vascular plants of the Soviet Far East. / Under ed. S.S.Harkevich. - Leningrad: Nauka, 1988. - V. 2 - p. 130-131.