Relatives
Ribes scandicum Hedl. - Scandic or Scandinavian currant.
Taxonomic position.
Family Grossulariaceae Hill; genus Ribes L.Morphology and biology.
Perennial plant. Shrub is 1.5 m tall with pale, slightly downy shoots; in addition to downiness, the plant is often studded with glandular hairs. Leaves, which have 3-5 well-developed, large-toothed, sharp lobes, are bare above and usually thinly pubescent below, with a heart-shaped or sheared base and glandular stalk. Racemes are 2.5-5 cm long, upright or arched at the time of flowering and drooping during the fruiting period, containing 5-12 (16) flowers. Rachis is bare. Pedicels are 3-8 mm long, bare or slightly glandular. Flowers are medium-sized, green or brownish. Sepals are bare along the edges. Berries are 8 mm in diameter. Blossoms in June; bears fruit in July/August. Entomophilous, monoecious, zoochore.Distribution.
Distributed throughout the Scandinavian Peninsula and Finland. Reaches the shores of the White Sea in the north and Ustyug the Great in the south. The easternmost location is along the Vychegda River and near Ust-Sysolsk. Poyarkova advocates the hybrid origin of this species (R. rubrum x R. pubescens), whose distribution area occupies the intermediate territory between the distribution areas of these two species and slightly overlaps them.Ecology.
Occurs in forests, along forest edges and along riverbanks.Utilization and economic value.
Used for food and as a source of vitamins. Being cold-hardy, the species is valuable for breeding.References:
Komarov V.L., ed. 1939. Flora of the USSR. Vol. IX. Moscow/Leningrad: Publishing House of the USSR Academy of Sciences, pp. 254-255 (in Russian).Koropachinsky I.Yu., Vstovskata T.N. 2002. Woody plants of Asiatic Russia. Novosibirsk: Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Science, GEO Branch Publishers, pp. 266-293 (in Russian).
Malyshev L.I., Peshkova G.A., eds. 1979. Flora of the Central Siberia. Vol. I. Onocleaceae-Saxifragaceae. Novosibirsk: Nauka, p. 431 (in Russian).
Pavlova, N.M. 1936. Currant and gooseberry. Cultivated Flora of the USSR. Vol. XVI. Moscow/Leningrad, pp. 21-133 (in Russian).