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:

Rosa woodsii, Symphoricarpos occidentalis

RARITY STATUS

Provincial Status According
to Harms (2003):

Vulnerable

Nature Conservancy Status:

G5 S2

Saskatchewan Species at
Risk Status:

None

COSEWIC Status:

None

Ribes aureum 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:

convolute in bud, alternate, 2 – 5 cm wide, deeply 3 – 5-lobed, base cuneate to subcordate, palmately veined, glabrous or nearly so, margin dentate

Inflorescence:

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

Flowers:

slightly irregular, clove-scented; hypanthium tube yellow, cylindrical, 6 – 10 mm long; calyx more than half as long as tube; corolla bright yellow (drying pale yellow), often tipped with red; 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; pedicels not jointed below the ovary (except in R. lacustre)	2
1 Stems not prickly or bristly; pedicels jointed below the ovary	5

2 Pedicels jointed below the ovary; racemes 3 – 15-flowered; berries black, bristly glandular	R. lacustre
2 Pedicels not jointed below the ovary; racemes 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	R. oxyacanthoides ssp. setosum
3 Flowers 5 – 8 mm long; hypanthium narrowly campanulate, 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 Corolla bright yellow, may be reddish-tinged; flowers slightly irregular	R. aureum var. aureum
5 Corolla not bright yellow; flowers regular	6

6 Leaves with resinous glands below	7
6 Leaves without resinous glands below	8

7 Pedicels much longer than bracts; sepals white; ovary at least somewhat sessile glandular; berries usually with yellowish resin dots	R. hudsonianum var. hudsonianum
7 Pedicels much shorter than bracts: sepals greenish or yellowish; ovary lacking glands; berries glabrous	R. americanum

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