Relatives
Ribes hispidulum (Jancz.) Pojark. - Bristly currant.
Taxonomic position.
Family Grossulariaceae Hill, genus Ribes L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial plant. Erect, deciduous shrub, up to 2 m tall. Shoots are pale, usually studded with stalky glandules, frequently pilose. Leaves are almost always three-lobed; lobes are broad and more or less obtuse. The upper surface is bare or covered with sparse hairs, while the underside may be bare or densely pubescent, often with glandular hairs along the veins. Leaf base is heart-shaped or truncated. Leafstalks are mostly glandular and bristly, sometimes downy. Racemes are pointed upwards or gently drooping, 3-6 cm long, rather dense, containing 6-12(16) flowers. Axis and pedicels, varying in length from 2.5 to 5(7) mm, are slightly glandular. Flowers are small, 3-4 mm in diameter, yellowish green, with bare, greenish hypanthium and concave receptacle. Sepals are greenish yellow, bare at the edges. Berries are 8-10 mm in diameter, red, very juicy, with sour flavor. Blossoms in late May or early June; bears fruit in July. Mesophyte, shade-tolerant, propagated by seeds.Distribution.
Occurs throughout Western Siberia up to Yenisei (except for in the Far North), Altai, the mountains of eastern and northern Kazakhstan, the mountains near Zaysan Lake, the southern and middle Urals, the Pechora River basin, and westward beyond the Volga.Ecology.
Grows in flood-lands and along brook beds, on forest edges and among brushwood.Utilization and economic value.
Used for food or as a source of vitamins.Reference citations:
Pavlova, N.M. 1936. Currant and gooseberry. Cultivated Flora of the USSR. Vol. 16. Moscow-Leningrad, p. 21-133.Peshkova G.A., ed. 1994. Siberian Flora. Vol. 7. Berberidaceae-Grossulariaceae. Novosibirsk: Nauka, 214 p.
Poyarkova A.I. 1936. Critical review of wild currant and gooseberry species in the Soviet Union. Flora and taxonomy of higher plants, Series 1, Issue 2. Works of the Botanical Institute, USSR Academy of Sciences. 153-216 p. (In Russian)
Poyarkova A.I. 1939. Genus Ribes L. Family Saxifragaceae. In: Komarov V.L., editor. Flora of the USSR. Vol. 9. Moscow-Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences Publishers, 244 p.
Vulf E.V., Maleyeva O.F. 1969. Worldwide resources of useful plants. Food, fodder, industrial, medicinal and others. Leningrad: Nauka, 177 p.