Species: Ribes aureum var. aureum Pursh

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Ribes aureum var. aureum Pursh

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TAXONOMY

Family:

Grossulariaceae

Genus:

Ribes

Species Synonyms:

Chrysobotrya aurea (Pursh) Rydb.

Common Names:

golden currant

DISTRIBUTION

Canada:

southern British Columbia, southern Alberta – southwestern Saskatchewan

Saskatchewan:

southwestern Saskatchewan; Cypress Hills – Rockglen

Ecoregion:

Cypress Upland, Mixed Grassland, Moist Mixed Grassland

HABITAT

Saskatchewan:

shrubby or wooded ravine slopes

Associated Species:

western snowberry, Wood’s rose

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Vulnerable

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Golden currant is vulnerable because it is rare or uncommon in Saskatchewan and is regionally restricted to the Cypress Hills and surrounding area. Local population sizes vary. No immediate threats are known for this species.

SPECIES DESCRIPTION

Height:

1 – 2 m

Roots:

taproot woody

Stems:

shrub, erect, not prickly or bristly

Leaves:

rolled in bud, alternate, 2 – 5 cm wide, deeply 3 – 5-lobed, base wedge-shaped to heart-shaped, palmately veined, hairless or nearly so, margin square-toothed

Inflorescence:

few to many-flowered; stalks jointed below the ovary; bracts 5 – 10 mm long

Flowers:

slightly irregular, clove-scented; hypanthium tube yellow, cylindrical, 6 – 10 mm long; sepals more than half as long as tube; petals bright yellow (drying pale yellow), often red-tipped; stamens 5; ovary 2-carpellate, inferior

Fruits:

berry black, red or yellow

RIBES KEY FOR SPECIES FOUND IN SASKATCHEWAN

1 Stems prickly, and usually bristly; flower stalks not jointed below the ovary (except in R. lacustre)	2
1 Stems not prickly or bristly; flower stalks jointed below the ovary	5

2 Flower stalks jointed below the ovary; inflorescence 3 – 15-flowered; berries black, bristly glandular	R. lacustre
2 Flower stalks not jointed below the ovary; inflorescence up to 5-flowered or flowers solitary; berries red to black, smooth	3

3 Flowers 10 – 12 mm long; hypanthium narrowly cylindrical, 2 – 4x as long as broad	R. oxyacanthoides ssp. setosum
3 Flowers 5 – 8 mm long; hypanthium narrowly bell-shaped, about as wide as long	4

4 Stamens 2x as long as petals, as long as or exceeding sepals	R. oxyacanthoides var. saxosum
4 Stamens about as long as petals, shorter than sepals	R. oxyacanthoides ssp. oxyacanthoides

5 Petals bright yellow, may be reddish-tinged; flowers slightly irregular	R. aureum var. aureum
5 Petals not bright yellow; flowers regular	6

6 Leaves with somewhat sticky glands below	7
6 Leaves without glands below	8

7 Flower stalks much longer than bracts; sepals white; ovary at least somewhat sessile glandular; berries usually with yellowish resin dots	R. hudsonianum var. hudsonianum
7 Flower stalks much shorter than bracts: sepals greenish or yellowish; ovary lacking glands; berries without resin dots	R. americanum

8 Ovary and fruit not bristly-glandular	R. triste
8 Ovary and fruit bristly-glandular	R. glandulosum