Relatives
Ribes fontaneum Boczkarn. - Fountain currant.
Taxonomic position.
Family Grossulariaceae Hill, genus Ribes L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial plant. Tall shrub, up to 2.5 m tall. Buds are up to 9 mm long, densely dotted with glandules. Leaf blade is up to 20 cm in length and 27 cm in width. Leaves are thin, dull, with 3-5 lobes and deeply carved heart-shaped base, bare or slightly pubescent below along the veins, profusely dotted with glandules. Petioles are 11-12 cm long. Inflorescence is spike-like, up to 16 cm long, loose. Rachis and flowers are covered by small hairs and dotty glandules. Flowers are up to 1 cm long. Hypanthium is up to 1 mm long, 5-6 mm in diameter, bare. Perianth is saucer-shaped, up to 1 cm in diameter. Calyx lobes are lanceolate, up to 4 mm long and 2 mm wide, densely white-tomentose with dotty glandules from the outside, yellowish-brownish from the inside. Petals are obovate, bare, white, with yellow-brown tint. Styles are conical, coalesced to the middle, brown. Ovary is inferior, 2 mm in diameter, bare. Under each petal of the receptacle there is an excrescence connected with the other excrescences by a small ridge, thus forming the outline of an obtusely angled, five-point star. Berries, reaching 1.5 cm in diameter, are rounded, obovate or almost pear-shaped, naked or dotted with glandules, with a bluish bloom. Blossoms in May; bears fruit in July/August. Entomophilous. Zoochore.Distribution.
Endemic to the Maritime Region of Russia. Distribution is limited by the mountain Sikhote Alin mountain range.Ecology.
Occurs along stony banks of mountain springs in dark, coniferous forests.Utilization and economic value.
Berries are edible, having sour flavor. Used by local population as a berry-bearing plant.References:
Bochkarnikova, N.M. 1973. Black currant in the Far East. Vladivostok, Far East Publishing House, pp. 60-78.Harkevich S.S., ed. 1988. Vascular plants of the Soviet Far East. Vol. 3. Leningrad, Nauka, p. 127-128.