Ribes bracteosum
Stink Currant

Family: Grossulariaceae (Gooseberry family)

Photo taken at Stevens Pass, moist streambank in partial shade

Flowers:

inflorescence erect, 20 to 50 flowered; sepals 3 to 5 mm, green and often tinged purplish-brown; petals less than 1 mm, white; hypanthium saucer shaped and widely flared; ovary with sessile yellow glands

Fruit:

black glaucous with sessile glands, 8 to 10 mm

Leaves:

blade deeply 5 to 7 lobed, 4 to 20 cm; upper surface glabrous, lower surface dull with sparse hairs and yellow glands

Plant:

less than 4 meters tall; spines and prickles lacking. Berries eaten fresh, or boiled and dried for future use in the West Cascades by the Bella Coola, Hanaksiala, Southern Kwakiutl, Makah, and Coastal Salish

Habitat:

moist forests

Distribution of species:

Alaska to California, mostly in the west Cascades but occasionally in the east Cascades

Distribution of genus:

120 species: Northern Hemisphere and temperate South America