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Ribes montigenum
(Mountain Currant, Prickly Currant) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides.
Spring, summer. Our most common Ribes species and most prolific and reliable fruit producer is Ribes montigenum. It has flesh-colored stems for its most recent year or two of growth, three large thorns at leaf nodes, and often has smaller spines along the stem. Leaves are densely hairy, somewhat sticky, lobed, and cleft very deeply in three divisions. Hundreds of delicate, pink-to-coral flared bell flowers cloak the plant in late spring and early summer. Pedicels and calyces are covered in minute, glandular, sticky, aromatic hairs. Notice that the petals (innermost whorl in the perianth) are smaller than the outer sepals. A plant with rare creamy white flowers greeted us June 16, 2016.
"Montigenum" (monti gene um) is from the Latin for "mountain born". Ribes montigenum was first collected in 1893 in the California Sierras by McClatchie and he named the plant in 1897. |
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Ribes montigenum (Mountain Currant, Prickly Currant) Grossulariaceae (Gooseberry Family) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides.
Spring, summer. Normally, even in dry years, most flowers mature and produce a hearty crop of tasty berries. In the continuing drought of 2003 and again in 2018, 2021, and 2022 however, we found almost no berries; in other years berries were abundant and tasty. Fall color is usually shades of yellow. |
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Ribes montigenum (Mountain Currant, Prickly Currant) Grossulariaceae (Gooseberry Family) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides.
Spring, summer. The dark hairs covering the berries might dissuade you from putting these fruits in your mouth, but the hairs are soft and you won't even notice them as you enjoy the delicate sweetness of these abundant Ribes. The hairs are the same ones you see surrounding the ovary at the base of the petals in several photographs above. The hairs are glandular and undoubtedly their sticky secretions contribute to the pleasant flavor of Ribes montigenum. |
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Ribes montigenum
(Mountain Currant, Prickly Currant) Grossulariaceae (Gooseberry Family) Montane, subalpine. Woodlands, streamsides.
Spring, summer. In some years, or in some locations, defoliated Ribes montigenum are a common site. I cannot find accurate information on the cause of the defoliation, but it appears to me to be caused by an insect that creates a webbing as it decimates the plant. I also do not know how much permanent damage the defoliation causes, but I do not think it is significant. |
Range map © John Kartesz,
County Color Key
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Range map for Ribes montigenum |