NATURE

Sea, land, river

Regional

PLACE

Books+

Community

“trailing black currant”

Locally: Hayes Crk; Moresby etc.

On internet see ITIS for both taxonomy and search engines.

Little available; but see this site on medicinal, to propagation for CA

More interesting – Ribes goes thru many changes as first the splitters and then the lumpers are accepted.

Our culinary distinctions between ‘gooseberries’ and currants and then latter dived into edible and ‘spiny’ currants

Has not stood up to DNA analysis

See this good horticulture type article for overview

Blooming for a short while in May . Easily over looked the rest of the year. Berries are eaten but not sought out.

Note the subtle beauty of the flowers. Normal stamens alter with a leaf like one A and B above

See Hawaii site for taxonomy and illustrations others where fertile and ‘showy’ stamens alter; or here for EM scan of pollen in another Ribes

Literature sees the “stalked glands” as important difference among similar taxa.

Note how the older style illustrations left are more instructive

The above image scanned; while illustrating the ‘stalked glands” not sufficiently focused to be useful

Composed on June 16, 2002

Last modified 6/16/02 11:21 AM