Ribes triste : Wild Red Currant

Scientific Name:

Kingdom: Plantae

Division:

• Tracheophyta (vascular)
• Spermatophyta (seed bearing)
Angiospermae (enclosed seed)

Class: Dicoteldonae (two seed-leaves)

Family: Saxifragaceae (Saxifrage Family)

Genera: Ribes (Currants) (Arabic ribas=name of an unrelated rhubarb-like plant valued for its acid properties.)

Species: triste (Lat. tristis=sad, weeping; referring to thte drooping flower clusters.)

English Name(s):

Wild Red Currant, American / Northern Red Currant

First Nation Names:

eneeyu' (Gwichya), nee'uu (Teetl'it)

Structure:

• Shrubs of medium size.
• Bark exfoliating (shedding in flakes).
• Branches decumbent to ascending. Up to 1.5 meters high.
• Branches near the bottom more often prostrate and sometimes rooting.

Leaves:

• Palmate and cordate in shape. Venation also palmate usually with 5 main viens.
• Blades 2-9cm long by 2.5-12cm wide.
• Mostly glabrous (hairless). With some pubescence (hairs) when young.
• Shallowly 3-5 lobed.

Reproductive Parts:

• Flowers perfect (bisexual).
• Ovary superior with 2 united carpels (female parts).
• Calyx (petals + sepals) tubed with petals alternating with the stamens (male parts).
• Flower parts 5-merous.
• Petals shorter than the coloured sepals.
• Pedicels (flower stalks) often with stalked glands.
• Calyx redding or purpleish in colour; Sepals 1.5-2mm long; Petals 1mm long.
• Flowers in drooping racemes of 6-15 flowers.

Seed:

• Fruit is a berry.
• Berries ovoid to spherical, 6-10 mm diameter.
• Bright red, glabrous (smooth).

Not to Be Confused With:

• All Ribes (Currant) species look similar. Defining characteristics are: The colour of the berries red or black; Presence or not of bristles on stems or berries; Leaf lobes deep or shallow.
• Vibur edule (Highbush Cranberry) is a shrub of similar size, with red berries, and with some leaves 3-lobed.
• R.triste Flowers (and berries) are in drooping racemes not compound corymbose cymes of V.edule.
• Leaves R.triste (Wild Red Currant) are always 3-5 lobed rather than the simple to 3-lobed leaves of V.edule (Highbush Cranberry).

Physiology:

Life Cycle:

• Perennial.

Seasonal Cycle:

• Leaves deciduous (falling off).

Animal Uses:

• Bees are the main pollinators of all Ribes (Currant) species. They gather both nectar and pollen from these shrubs.
• Birds are the main agents of seed dispersal. Eating the fruit whole and passing the seeds through their system. Tests show that some Ribes (Currant) seeds germinate better after passing through certain bird species.

Habitat:

• Moist woods, thickets and clearings. Also on rocky montane slopes.

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