Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.
black gooseberry (black swamp gooseberry; prickly currant)
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
black gooseberry (black swamp gooseberry; prickly currant)
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
Photograph
© Dave Ingram (Photo ID #6063)
Species Information
General:
Deciduous shrub, loosely branched, 0.5-2 m tall; stems erect to spreading, finely short-hairy and bristly with slender, sharp prickles and usually larger, 6-12 mm long, nodal spines; bark reddish-brown.
Leaves:
Alternate, mostly heart-shaped, 2-7 cm wide, 5-lobed more than half their length, glabrous or sparsely short-hairy along the veins, rarely glandular, coarsely toothed; stalks about equal to or slightly longer than the blades, glabrous.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 5-15 flowers in a drooping raceme from shorter to longer than the leaves; flower stalks 3-7 mm long, jointed just below the flowers; petals pinkish, 1.5-2 mm long, broadly spoon-shaped; hypanthium saucer-shaped, about 1 mm long; calyces pale yellowish-green to dull reddish-brown, stalked, glandular-hairy, the tips reddish to purplish; styles free to the base, about equaling the stamens.
Fruits:
Berries, nearly round, dark purple, 4-8 mm long, stalked, glandular-hairy.
Illustration
If more than one illustration is available for a species (e.g., separate illustrations were provided for two subspecies) then links to the separate images will be provided below. Note that individual subspecies or varietal illustrations are not always available.
Illustration Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia
USDA Species Characteristics
Flower Colour:
Purple
Blooming Period:
Early Spring
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Black
Present from Spring to Summer
Source: The USDA
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Ribes lacustre
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
The table below shows the species-specific information calculated from
original data (BEC database) provided by the BC Ministry of Forests and Range.
(Updated August, 2013)
| Site Information |
Value / Class |
||
|
Avg |
Min |
Max |
|
| Elevation
(metres) |
1150 | 0 | 2750 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
20 | 0 | 230 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
10 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 8 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
C | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
10112 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
ESSF | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
AT(19), BG(7), BWBS(424), CWH(339), ESSF(2948), ICH(1979), IDF(594), IMA(1), MH(23), MS(992), PP(19), SBPS(74), SBS(2126), SWB(22) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist streambanks, open woodlands, forest margins and rock outcrops in the montane to alpine zones; common throughout BC except extreme NE BC; N to AK, YT and SW NT, E to NF and S to PA, MI, SD, CO, UT and CA.Status Information
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Limnobotrya lacustris (Pers.) Rydb.
Ribes lacustre var. parvulum Gray
Ribes oxycanthoides var. lacustre Pers.