Ribes oxyacanthoides L.
northern gooseberry (Canadian gooseberry; northern smooth gooseberry)
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
northern gooseberry (Canadian gooseberry; northern smooth gooseberry)
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)
Introduction to Vascular Plants
SUBTAXA PRESENT IN BC
Ribes oxyacanthoides var. oxyacanthoides
Species Information
General:
Deciduous shrub, loosely branched, 0.5-1.5 m tall; stems erect to spreading, bristly-hairy and usually with 1-3, slender, 0.8-1 cm long, nodal spines; bark yellowish brown to greyish-brown or grey.
Leaves:
Alternate, broadly egg-shaped, heart-shaped at the base, 1-5 cm wide, 3- to 5-lobed about half their length, the lobes rounded, deeply toothed, short glandular-hairy; stalks equal to or slightly longer than the blades, densely hairy and usually short glandular-hairy.
Flowers:
Inflorescence of usually 1-3 flowers in a drooping to spreading raceme much shorter than the leaves; flower stalks 1-3 mm long, not jointed below the flowers, glandular; petals whitish, egg-shaped, 2-3.5 mm long; hypanthium nearly cylindric to bell-shaped, 2-6 mm long; calyces pale greenish-white, glabrous to finely hairy; styles fused and soft-hairy to about midlength, about equaling the stamens.
Fruits:
Berries, round, reddish to deep-purplish blue, 1-1.2 cm long, glabrous.
Notes:
Three subspecies occur in BC:
1. Flowers mostly 8-11 mm long with sepals extended; leaves not glandular below.................. ssp. irriguum (Dougl.) Sinnott
1. Flowers about 7 mm long with sepals extended; leaves usually glandular short-hairy below
2. Hypanthium 5-6 mm long, not or only slightly flared; petals (2.5) 3.0-3.5 mm long; plants rare in SC BC...................... ssp. cognatum (Greene) Sinnott
2. Hypanthium 2.5-3.5 mm long, bell-shaped, flared; petals 2.0-2.5 mm long; the widely distributed subspecies...................... ssp. oxyacanthoides
Ecology
Ecological Framework for Ribes oxyacanthoides
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) |
819 | 30 | 1910 |
| Slope
Gradient (%) |
16 | 0 | 230 |
|
Aspect (degrees) |
288 | 0 | 360 |
| Soil
Moisture Regime (SMR) [0 - very xeric; 4 - mesic; 8 - hydric] |
4 | 0 | 7 |
| Modal
Nutrient Regime
Class |
D | ||
| #
of field plots species was recorded in: |
507 | ||
| Modal
BEC Zone Class |
BWBS | ||
|
All BEC Zones (# of stations/zone) species was recorded in |
BG(10), BWBS(170), CDF(1), CWH(10), ESSF(12), ICH(18), IDF(75), MS(12), PP(3), SBPS(16), SBS(134), SWB(3) | ||
|
Source:
Klinkenberg 2013
|
|||
Habitat and Range
Moist woodlands, thickets and forest openings (ssp. cognatum and ssp. irriguum) or dry, open forest and rocky slopes (ssp. oxycanthoides) in the montane zone; frequent in BC east of the Coast-Cascade Mountains (ssp. oxycanthoides), infrequent in SC and SE BC (ssp. irriguum), rare in SC BC (ssp. cognatum); N to S AK, YT and NT, E to PQ and S to PA, IL, MN, NE and WY.Status Information
| Scientific Name | Origin Status | Provincial Status | BC List (Red Blue List) | COSEWIC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ribes oxyacanthoides var. cognatum | S1S2 (2015) | Red | Not Listed | |
| Ribes oxyacanthoides var. oxyacanthoides | Native | S5 | Yellow | Not Listed |
BC Ministry of Environment: BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer.
Synonyms
Synonyms and Alternate Names:
Grossularia hirtella (Michx.) Spach
Ribes hirtellum var. calcicola (Fernald) Fernald
Ribes hirtellum var. saxosum (Hook.) Fernald
Ribes oxyacanthoides var. calcicola Fernald
Ribes oxyacanthoides var. hirtellum (Michx.) Scoggan
Ribes oxyacanthoides var. saxosum (Hook.) Coville