Ribes hudsonianum var. petiolare
Western Black Currant

Family: Grossulariaceae (Gooseberry family)

Photo taken in the Wenatchee Mountains, partially shaded area near stream (0.5 to 3 meters away)

Flowers:

racemes mostly 4 to 10 cm long, erect; 20 to 50 flowers per raceme, white, ovary glandular; petals 2 mm, white; hypanthium saucer shaped, widely flared, 1 to 1.5 mm; sepals 4 to 7 mm, white, spreading

Fruit:

black, 9 to 10 mm, with yellow sessile glands

Leaves:

coarsely double dentate, 3 to 10 cm broad; upper surface glabrous, lower surface with few soft shaggy hairs and sessile crystalline glands

Plant:

shrub, spines and prickles lacking; glabrous except for glands to lightly pubescent. Berries eaten by the Thompson and Shuswap. Decoction of stem and leaves taken for colds and stomach problems by the Thompson.

Habitat:

streambanks, moist woods and margins of meadows in mountains

Distribution of species:

southern British Columbia to northern California in the Cascades, east to Idaho, Montana, Utah, and northern Wyoming

Distribution of genus:

120 species: Northern Hemisphere and temperate South America