Ribes roezlii

{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}

{{Speciesbox

|image = Ribes roezlii.jpg

|genus = Ribes

|species = roezlii

|authority = Regel

|synonyms_ref = [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/29100537 Tropicos, Ribes roezlii Regel ]

|synonyms = *Grossularia roezlii (Regel) Coville & Britton

  • Ribes aridum {{small|Greene}}

}}

Ribes roezlii is a North American species of gooseberry known by the common name Sierra gooseberry.{{PLANTS|id=RIRO|taxon=Ribes roezlii|accessdate=22 October 2015}}

Description

Ribes roezlii is a spiny shrub growing erect to a maximum height around {{convert|1.2|m|ft|frac=4}}. The hairless to hairy or woolly leaves are up to {{convert|2.5|cm|frac=8}} long and divided into 3 to 5 rounded, toothed lobes.[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-calrecnum=7137 Calflora taxon report, University of California: Ribes roezlii] . accessed 1.30.2013

The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of 2 or 3 small wind-pollinated[http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/shrub/ribroe/all.html US Forest Service Fire Ecology] flowers hanging pendent from the branches. Each flower has five reflexed red-purple sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller white or pinkish petals, the stamens and stigmas protruding.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065840 Flora of North America, Ribes roezlii ][https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40100001#page/282/mode/1up Regel, Eduard August von 1879. Gartenflora 28(8): 226–227] description in Latin, commentary and figure captions in German[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40100001#page/299/mode/1up Regel, Eduard August von 1879. Gartenflora 28(8): plate 982] color illustration of Ribes roezlii (red-flowered plant at left)

The fruit is a red or purple berry up to {{convert|2.5|cm|frac=8|abbr=on}} long which is covered in thick, long spines. Among other currants and gooseberries with overlapping ranges, such as mountain gooseberry or wax currant, the sierra gooseberry is especially notable for the large size and extreme spininess of its berries,{{citation |author= Norman F. Weeden |title= A Sierra Nevada Flora |year= 1996 | edition= 4th |publisher= Wilderness Press}} and for the absence of a noticeable dried flower remnant at the end of the fruit.

{{gallery|mode=packed

|Ribes roezlii spiny fruit.jpg|Spiny fruits

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Distribution and habitat

Ribes roezlii is native to many of the mountain ranges of California, its distribution extending east into Nevada and north into Oregon. Its habitat includes chaparral, woodlands, and forested areas.[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Ribes%20roezlii.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map]

Var. amictum is uncommon in California.{{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}}

Ecology

Seeds are dispersed by running water and by animals that eat the fruits, such as American black bears. The foliage is an important food source for mule deer and bighorn sheep, and the fruits are a common food for fox sparrows living in its range.

Uses

The berries can be eaten by humans in an emergency, but are unpalatable.{{cite book |last=Whitney |first=Stephen |title=Western Forests (The Audubon Society Nature Guides) |date=1985 |publisher=Knopf |location=New York |isbn=0-394-73127-1 |page=[https://archive.org/details/westernforests00whit/page/421 421] |url=https://archive.org/details/westernforests00whit/page/421 }}

References

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