Ribes velutinum
{{Short description|Species of flowering plant}}
{{Italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
|name = Desert gooseberry
|image = Ribes velutinum 5.jpg
|genus = Ribes
|species = velutinum
|authority = Greene Species was first described and published in the Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences 1(3): 83. 1885. {{ cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=793058-1 |title=Plant Name Details for Ribes velutinum |work=IPNI |accessdate=July 21, 2010}}
|subdivision_ranks = Varieties
|subdivision = Ribes velutinum var. gooddingii (M.Peck) C.L.Hitchc. {{ cite web |url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RIVEG |title=Profile for Ribes velutinum variety goodingii (Gooding's gooseberry) |work=PLANTS Database |publisher=USDA, NRCS |accessdate=July 21, 2010}} Ribes velutinum var. goodingii was published in Vascular Plants of the Pacific Northwest 3: 84. 1961. {{ cite web |url=http://www.ipni.org:80/ipni/idPlantNameSearch.do?id=221111-2 |title=Plant Name Details for Ribes velutinum var. goodingii |work=IPNI |accessdate=July 21, 2010}}
|synonyms_ref = [http://www.tropicos.org/Name/29100550 Tropicos, Ribes velutinum Greene ]
|synonyms = *Grossularia velutina (Greene) Coville & Britton
- Ribes goodingii {{small|M.E.Peck}}
}}
Ribes velutinum is a North American species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.[http://www.calflora.org/cgi-bin/species_query.cgi?where-taxon=Ribes+velutinum Calflora: Ribes velutinum]
Description
Ribes velutinum is a spreading shrub growing to {{Convert|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=212}} It has a thick, arching, multibranched stem growing up to {{Convert|2|m|ft|frac=2}} long. Nodes along the stems are armed with spines that may reach {{Convert|2|cm|frac=8}} in length. These are not 'prickles', as they are derived from leaf material rather than plant epidermis (skin).
The thick, leathery leaves have generally rounded blades divided shallowly into three or five lobes and dotted with glandular hairs. The small blades are borne on petioles.
The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of up to four flowers. Each small flower is a tube of white or yellowish sepals with smaller, similarly colored petals inside. The bloom period is April to May.
The fruit is a berry {{Convert|0.5-1|cm|abbr=on|frac=8}} wide, which ripens yellow, then reddish or purple.[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=1&taxon_id=250065839 Flora of North America, Ribes velutinum][https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/3154366#page/149/mode/1up Greene, Edward Lee 1885. Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences 1(3): 83–84] It is dry and unpalatable.
Varieties
- Ribes velutinum var. goodingii — Gooding's gooseberry, from the Great Basin region in California, Nevada, Idaho, Washington, and Oregon[https://plants.usda.gov/core/profile?symbol=RIVEG USDA Plants Profile for Ribes velutinum var. gooddingii (Gooding's gooseberry)]
Distribution and habitat
It is endemic to the deserts and mountains of the Western United States. It is native to areas in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona.{{cite web |title=Profile for Ribes velutinum (desert gooseberry) |url=http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=RIVE |accessdate=July 21, 2010 |work=PLANTS Database |publisher=USDA, NRCS}}[http://bonap.net/MapGallery/County/Ribes%20velutinum.png Biota of North America Program 2014 county distribution map]
It grows in many types of habitat, including sagebrush scrub, pinyon–juniper woodland, and yellow pine forest.
References
{{Reflist|25em}}
External links
- [http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/eflora/eflora_display.php?tid=41472 Jepson Manual eFlora (TJM2) treatment of Ribes velutinum]
- [http://www.tropicos.org/Image/56767 Missouri Botanical Garden: herbarium specimen (1905)]
- [http://calphotos.berkeley.edu/cgi/img_query?query_src=photos_index&where-taxon=Ribes+velutinum UC Calphotos gallery: Ribes velutinum images]
{{Commons category|position=left|Ribes velutinum}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q7322362}}
Category:Endemic flora of the United States
Category:Flora of the Northwestern United States
Category:Flora of the Southwestern United States
Category:Flora of the Great Basin
Category:Flora of the Sierra Nevada (United States)
Category:Flora of the California desert regions
Category:Natural history of the Mojave Desert
Category:Plants described in 1885