Relatives
Ribes dikuscha Fisch. Ex Turcz. - Dikusha currant.
Taxonomic position.
Family Grossulariaceae Hill, genus Ribes L.Synonyms.
Okhta, Aldanka, Aldan grape.Biology and morphology.
Perennial plant. Short shrub that grows up to 1 m tall. Older branches are fulvous brown; younger ones are light yellow or gently chamois. Leaves are bare, up to 13 cm long and 10 cm wide, light-colored, often glaucous green, either bare on both sides or downy along underside veins. Leaf blade is three-lobed, less frequently indistinctly five-lobed, with a cordate base. Raceme is up to 8 cm long, oliganthous (8-13 flowers), with a bare axis. Sepals on both sides are tomentose, white. Outside of hypanthium and ovary are bare. Petals are flabellate. Berries lack odoriferous glandules, are up to 13 mm in diameter, and are bluish black with waxy bloom. Capable of hybridization with other species of the same genus; there are reports of natural hybrids with Ribes procumbens. Blossoms in June; bears fruit in August. Entomophilous, monoecious, zoochore.Distribution.
Occurs in the Arctic region in the vicinity of Anadyr, in Eastern Siberia in Lena-Kolyma and the northwestern part of the Dauriya basins, and in the Far East (occurs rarely in detached locations) in the Zeya-Bureya, Uda and Ussuri basins. Endemic. Described as originating near the Upper Angara River.Ecology.
Grows on islands, sandy and stony riverbanks, edges of riverside forests, and in small thickets. Maximum accumulation and diversity occurs in middle courses of the Amur, Lena and Kolyma rivers and their tributaries.Utilization and economic value.
Used in everyday and vitamin diets. Berries are large and odorless, their flavor resembling that of bog bilberry (Vaccinium uliginosum). Distinguished for abundant fruitage. Very promising for breeding practice: good results are expected from crosses between this large-fruit species and other species of the same genus with outstanding flavors.References.
Bocharnikova N.M. 1973. Black currant in the Far East. Vladivostok, pp. 34-48.Komarov V.L., ed. 1939. Flora of the USSR. Vol. 9. Fam. Saxifragaceae. Moscow/Leningrad, Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, pp. 254-255.
Malyshev L.I., Peshkova G.A., eds. 1979. Flora of Siberia. Vol. 1. Onocleaceae-Saxifragaceae. Novosibirsk: Nauka, p. 431.
Pavlova N.M. 1936. Currant and gooseberry. Cultivated Flora of the USSR. Vol. 16. Moscow/Leningrad, pp.21-133.