Ribes roezlii | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Order: | Saxifragales |
Family: | Grossulariaceae |
Genus: | Ribes |
Species: | R. roezlii
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Binomial name | |
Ribes roezlii | |
Synonyms [1] | |
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Ribes roezlii is a North American species of gooseberry known by the common name Sierra gooseberry. [2]
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. [3] [4]
Ribes roezlii is a spiny shrub growing erect to a maximum height around 1.2 metres (3.9 ft). The hairless to hairy or woolly leaves are up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long and divided into 3 or 5 rounded, toothed lobes. [3] [5] [6]
The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of 2 or 3 small wind-pollinated [7] 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. [3] [5] [6] [8]
The fruit is a red or purple berry up to 2.5 centimeters long which is covered in thick, long spines. Among other currants and gooseberries with overlapping ranges, such as mountain gooseberry ( Ribes montigenum) or wax currant ( Ribes cereum), the sierra gooseberry is especially notable for the large size and extreme spininess of its berries, [9] and for the absence of a noticeable dried flower remnant at the end of the fruit. [5] [6]
Seeds are dispersed by running water and by animals that eat the fruits, such as American black bears. [7] 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. [7] [5] [6] The berries can be eaten by humans in an emergency, but are unpalatable. [10]