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

Ribes oxyacanthoides var. cognatum L.
Grossulariaceae (Currant family)

Introduction to Vascular Plants

© Virginia Skilton  Email the photographer   (Photo ID #84205)

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Distribution of Ribes oxyacanthoides var. cognatum
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Species Information

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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

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Habitat / 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.

Source: The Illustrated Flora of British Columbia

Taxonomic and Nomenclatural Links

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General References