Ribes – from Arabic ribas (rhubarb) mistakenly applied to currants

sanguineum – bloody, referring to the red flowers

Native range: W. North America

Leaves:

• alternate
• 3-5 lobed, palmate
• palmately veined (usually w/ 5 main veins)

Flowers:

• inflorescence – loose pendulous spike
• red or pink flowers, white in some cultivars
• radial
• perfect – 5 parted
• 5 united sepals
• 2 styles
• .25” diameter

Fruit:

• berry w/ persistent sepals
• blue

Other characteristics:

• twiggy shrub
• deciduous
• stems do not have spines like many other Ribes

Relevant info:

• likes sunny spots
• associated with white pine rust
• Rufous hummingbirds follow the blooms during migration
• many cultivars with white to pinkish-red to red flowers
• of concern to gardeners:
  • resistant to most insect and disease pests that affect other Ribes species, including aphids and currant fruit fly
• Archibald Menzies was first European to identify species in 1793 during his voyage with Capt. George Vancouver. But David Douglas, Scottish plant explorer, found it growing near Fort Vancouver in 1825 and introduced it into British commerce. He sent seeds back to England, and the new plants flowered in 1828 when they were two years old. The employer of Douglas’s employer, the Royal Horticultural Society, considered this new, red flowering, acquisition to justify the cost (£400) of his entire three year expedition (Coats, 1992)

Ecology & Adaptations:

• west of the Cascades in Washington; British Columbia to south to California
• open to wooded, moist to dry valleys and lower mountains, rocky slopes, forest gaps, low to middle elevations
• well-drained, moderately fertile soil
• pollination – nectar attracts hummingbirds and butterflies early in the season when little else is available
• seed dispersal – berry eaten by birds and small mammals; seeds may remain viable in soil for several years
• foliage is eaten by Zephyr and other butterfly larvae
• compounds in tissues provide fungal resistance to fungal infection