E-Flora BC: Electronic Atlas of the Flora of British Columbia

Ribes cereum Douglas
White Currant (currant; Stink Currant; wax currant)
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Val George  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #84003)

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Distribution of Ribes cereum
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SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Ribes cereum var. cereum

Species Information

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General:
Deciduous shrub, loosely branched, 0.5-1.5 m tall; stems erect to spreading, unarmed, finely short-hairy and often with short, stalked glands; bark greyish-brown to reddish-brown.
Leaves:
Alternate, nearly kidney-shaped to broadly fan-shaped, 0.5-3.5 cm long, 1-4 cm wide, shallowly 3- to 5-lobed and toothed, glabrous or with short, stalked glands; stalks about equal to the blades.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of 2-8 flowers in tight clusters on stalks shorter than the leaves; flower stalks subtended by 1-3 small, hairy, toothed bracteoles; petals white to pink, fan-shaped to spoon-shaped, 1-2 mm long; hypanthium nearly cylindric, 5-9 mm long; calyces white to greenish-white, the lobes egg-shaped to deltoid, 1.5-3 mm long; styles somewhat fused nearly to the stigmas.
Fruits:
Berries, egg-shaped, dull to bright red, 6-8 mm long, glabrous to sparsely glandular.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

USDA Species Characteristics

Flower Colour:
White
Blooming Period:
Early Summer
Fruit/Seed characteristics:
Colour: Red
Present from Spring to Fall
Source:  The USDA

Habitat / Range

Dry shrublands, rocky slopes and open forests in the steppe and the lower montane zones; frequent in SC BC; S to MT, ID, NV, AZ and CA.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Ecology

Ecological Framework for Ribes cereum

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

Minimum

Average

Maximum

Elevation (metres) 250 845 1830
Slope Gradient (%) 0 31 105
Aspect (degrees)
[0 - N; 90 - E; 180 - S; 270 - W]
0 228 360
Soil Moisture Regime (SMR)
[0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic;
8 - hydric]
0 2 7
Modal Nutrient Regime
Class
C
Number of field plots
 species was recorded in:
285
Modal BEC Zone Class
IDF
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in: BG(53), ESSF(5), ICH(2), IDF(103), MS(18), PP(99)

Climate

The climate type for this species, as reported in the: "British Columbia plant species codes and selected attributes. Version 6 Database" (Meidinger et al. 2008), is cool temperate & cool semiarid.

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

Additional Photo Sources

General References