Ribes oxyacanthoides

In general, this plant is a shrub growing {{Convert|0.5 to 2|m|ft|frac=2}} in height.{{Cite book |last1=Turner |first1=Mark |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLbAAwAAQBAJ |title=Trees & Shrubs of the Pacific Northwest |last2=Kuhlmann |first2=Ellen |date=2014 |publisher=Timber Press |isbn=978-1-60469-263-1 |edition=1st |location=Portland, OR |pages=210}} The ssp. hendersonii is sometimes smaller at maturity. The branches are covered in prickles and there are spines up to {{Convert|1.3|cm|frac=8}} long at stem nodes.Carey, Jennifer H. 1995. [https://web.archive.org/web/20070210201323/https://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/riboxy/all.html Ribes oxyacanthoides.] In: Fire Effects Information System, [Online]. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Accessed 19 January 2025. The deciduous leaves are {{Convert|0.5 to 1.5|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide, and smooth to glandular-hairy.

Flowers are solitary or borne in pairs or threes. They are white or pinkish in color. The fruit is a palatable berry up to {{Convert|1.6|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide; it is reddish, greenish, purple, or black in color.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065859 Ribes oxyacanthoides.] Flora of North America.

Subspecies include:[http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RIOX Ribes oxyacanthoides.] USDA Plants Profile.

• R. o. ssp. cognatum (Umatilla gooseberry, stream currant) – Pacific Northwest
• R. o. ssp. hendersonii (Henderson's gooseberry) – Idaho, Montana, and Nevada
• R. o. ssp. irriguum (Idaho gooseberry, inland black gooseberry{{cite book |author=Robert D. Pfister and John P. Sloan |title=USDA FS Agriculture Handbook 727: Woody Plant Seed Manual |publisher=USDA Forest Service |year=2008 |chapter=Grossulariaceae—Currant family |chapter-url=http://www.fs.fed.us/rm/pubs_other/wo_AgricHandbook727/wo_AgricHandbook727_961_968.pdf}}) – Pacific Northwest
• R. o. ssp. oxyacanthoides (northern gooseberry) – from Alaska to Newfoundland
• R. o. ssp. setosum (inland gooseberry, Missouri gooseberry) – Rocky Mountains and adjacent regions

The subspecies were previously considered to be five separate species of plant. They intergrade in some regions. These subspecies are sometimes called varieties.

The shrub is native to North America, where it occurs in Alaska through much of Canada and the western and north-central United States.[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/State/Ribes%20oxyacanthoides.png Biota of North America Program, 2014 state-level distribution map]

It grows in many types of habitat, particularly riverbanks and riparian woodlands. It grows in boreal forest habitat, often among conifers at lower elevations. Some subspecies occur at higher elevations, such as the dwarf ssp. hendersonii, which can be found in mountain talus.

This plant is an alternate host for the white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), the vector of a pine tree disease. It is sometimes eradicated in attempts to control the rust.

Small amounts of this shrub and its fruit are present in the diets of wildlife species such as grizzly bear and mule deer.

Humans find the berry somewhat palatable. Many Native American groups collected and stored it for food. The Ojibwa cooked and ate it with sweet corn and made it into preserves, for example. The root was used medicinally.[http://herb.umd.umich.edu/herb/search.pl?searchstring=Ribes+oxyacanthoides Ribes oxyacanthoides.] University of Michigan Ethnobotany.

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{{Commonscat inline|Ribes oxyacanthoides|Ribes oxyacanthoides}}

• [http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Ribes+oxyacanthoides The Nature Conservancy]

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oxyacanthoides

Category:Plants used in Native American cuisine

Category:Plants used in traditional Native American medicine

Category:Flora of Northern America

Category:Plants described in 1753

Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus