''Ribes oxyacanthoides'' is a species of flowering plant in the gooseberry family known by the common name Canadian gooseberry. Its various subspecies have common names of their own. It is native to North America, where it occurs in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...

through much of Canada and the western and north-central United States.Carey, Jennifer H. 1995
''Ribes oxyacanthoides''.
In: Fire Effects Information System, nline U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory. Subspecies:''Ribes oxyacanthoides''.
USDA Plants Profile.''Ribes oxyacanthoides''.
Flora of North America. *''R. o.'' ssp. ''cognatum'' (Umatilla gooseberry, stream currant) –

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

*''R. o.'' ssp. ''hendersonii'' (Henderson's gooseberry) –

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyom ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

, and

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

*''R. o.'' ssp. ''irriguum'' (Idaho gooseberry, inland black gooseberry) –

*''R. o.'' ssp. ''oxyacanthoides'' (northern gooseberry) – from Alaska to Newfoundland *''R. o.'' ssp. ''setosum'' (inland gooseberry, Missouri gooseberry) –

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

and adjacent regions The subspecies were previously considered to be five separate species of plant. They intergrade in some regions. These subspecies are sometimes called

varieties Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

. In general, this plant is a deciduous

shrub A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

growing 0.5 to 1.5 meters (20–60 inches) in height. The ssp. ''hendersonii'' is sometimes smaller at maturity. The branches are covered in prickles and there are spines up to 1.3 centimeters long at stem nodes. Flowers are solitary or borne in pairs or threes. They are white or pinkish in color. The fruit is a

berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

up to 1.6 centimeters wide. It is reddish, greenish, purple, or black in color. This shrub grows in many types of habitat. It is a

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks ar ...

species, growing on riverbanks and riparian woodlands. It grows in

boreal forest Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, ...

habitat, often among conifers at lower

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Vert ...

s. Some subspecies occur at higher elevations, such as the dwarf ssp. ''hendersonii'', which can be found in mountain talus. This plant is an alternate host for the

white pine blister rust ''Cronartium ribicola'' is a species of rust fungus in the family Cronartiaceae that causes the disease white pine blister rust. Other names include: (French), (German), (Spanish). ''Cronartium ribicola'' is native to China, and was subsequ ...

(''Cronartium ribicola''), the vector of a pine tree disease. It is sometimes eradicated in attempts to control the rust. Small amounts of this shrub and its fruit are present in the diets of wildlife species such as

grizzly bear The grizzly bear (''Ursus arctos horribilis''), also known as the North American brown bear or simply grizzly, is a population or subspecies of the brown bear inhabiting North America. In addition to the mainland grizzly (''Ursus arctos horri ...

and

mule deer The mule deer (''Odocoileus hemionus'') is a deer indigenous to western North America; it is named for its ears, which are large like those of the mule. Two subspecies of mule deer are grouped into the black-tailed deer. Unlike the related whit ...

. Humans find it "more or less palatable". Many Native American groups collected and stored it for food. The

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

cooked and ate it with

sweet corn Sweet corn (''Zea mays'' convar. ''saccharata'' var. ''rugosa''), also called sugar corn and pole corn, is a variety of maize grown for human consumption with a high sugar content. Sweet corn is the result of a naturally occurring recessive muta ...

and made it into

preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the method ...

, for example. The root was used medicinally.''Ribes oxyacanthoides''.
University of Michigan Ethnobotany.

References

External links

The Nature Conservancy
{{Taxonbar, from=Q7322356 oxyacanthoides Plants used in Native American cuisine Plants used in traditional Native American medicine Flora of North America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus