| Sticky Currant | |
|---|---|
| A sticky currant growing in Wenatchee National Forest | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| (unranked): | Angiosperms |
| (unranked): | Eudicots |
| (unranked): | Core eudicots |
| Order: | Saxifragales |
| Family: | Grossulariaceae |
| Genus: | Ribes |
| Species: | R. viscosissimum |
| Binomial name | |
| Ribes viscosissimum Pursh [1] |
|
Ribes viscosissimum is a species of currant known by the common name sticky currant. It is native to western North America from British Columbia and Alberta to California to Colorado, where it grows in mountain forests, streambanks, and plateau sagebrush. It is a spreading to erect shrub growing one to two meters in maximum height, its stem coated in sticky glandular hairs and lacking spines and bristles. It is resinous and fragrant. The highly glandular leaves have thick, rough blades divided into rounded, toothed lobes. The blades may be 8 centimeters long, borne on petioles up to 10 centimeters in length. The inflorescence is an erect or drooping raceme of several flowers clustered together. Each flower has a bell-shaped coat of five whitish, greenish, or pink-tinged sepals which spread at the tips into a corolla-like array, sometimes becoming reflexed. Inside are whitish petals surrounding the stamens and stigmas. The fruit is an edible blue-black berry a centimeter long or longer.