Hillside Gooseberry

California Gooseberry
Ribes californicum var. californicum
NATIVE – CA ENDEMIC

Description (Jepson, PlantID.net)

• Eudicotyledon
  • Eudicots are a major lineage of flowering plants; see family for general characteristics
• Gooseberry Family (Grossulariaceae)
• Deciduous shrub
• 3-4 leaves in a cluster
  • Lobed with toothed margins
  • Not sticky (nonglandular)
• 3 spines (sharp-pointed modified leaves) at nodes (junction of leaf and stem)
  • Sometimes with bristles (short, stiff hairs)
• Flowers
  • Inflorescence (flower arrangement) a raceme (unbranched stem with stalked flowers opening from the bottom up) of 1-3 pendent flowers
  • Sepals (usually green, outer flower parts) are showy, white to green with a rosy tinge, and upwardly-reflexed
  • Petals are white or pink, fused, and in-rolled
  • Stamens (male flower parts) and pistils (female flower parts) are exserted (extending beyond petals}
  • Sepals, petals, and stamens (male flower parts) fused at base into a cup-like structure (hypanthium)
  • Ovary inferior (below the attachment of other flower parts)
• Fruit a berry (a usually multi-seeded fruit with a fleshy ovary wall) with bristles; red and translucent in maturity
• Height to 4.6 ft.

Distribution

• Native and endemic (limited) to California
  • Grows in forest openings, woodlands, and chaparral
  • See Calflora for statewide observations of this plant
• Grows at elevations to 2,400 ft.

Uses (San Mateo County Parks prohibits removal of any natural material)

• Wildlife
  • Bristles on the fruit do not prevent birds and mammals from eating the berries
  • Larval food source (host) for tailed copper butterfly caterpillar (Lycaena arota)
• Native People (for Ribes species) (Anderson 2005)
  • Berries were gathered and eaten whole or mashed
    • Bristles could be singed off by tossing in a basket with hot coals
  • Young shoots were used for making arrows
  • Bushes were actively managed by pruning and burning, stimulating many positive effects
    • Vigorous and straighter shoots
    • Larger and more numerous fruits
    • Less congested canopies
    • Reduced insect infestations
    • Recycled nutrients

Name Derivation

• Ribes (RIE-bees) – from the Arabic for a shrub with acidic fruit
• Gooseberry – from possible corruption of a Dutch (kruisbezie), German (Krausbeere), or French (groseille) word

Notes

• Sepals (usually green, outer flower parts) are the showy part of the flower
• Flowers, leaves, and spines arise from the same node
• Spines on stems help deter herbivory
  • Spines are sharp-pointed modified leaves, as on cacti and at Edgewood on gooseberries, or leaf parts, as on leather oaks
  • Prickles grow from the outer layers (epidermis) of plant stems, as on roses and blackberries
  • True thorns are sharp-pointed modified stems, as grow on citrus trees and at Edgewood on chaparral pea (Pickeringia montana var. montana)
• Edgewood’s hillside gooseberry is classified as a variety
  • Variety indicates a population with small morphological variations, e.g. color, seen throughout the geographic range of the species; interbreeding is possible
  • Subspecies indicates a geographically-separated population with distinct morphological characteristics; when not isolated, interbreeding is possible
  • In practice, botanists have not consistently applied these ranks

ID Tips

• May be confused with three other Ribes species at Edgewood, though only hillside gooseberry is seen commonly along trails
  • Canyon gooseberry (R. menziesii var. menziesii)
    • Observable only down the Sylvan spur trail
  • Chaparral currant (R. malvaceum)
    • Observable only in the Native Garden
  • Pink-flowering currant (Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum)
    • Observable at the outer parking area along Cordilleras Creek
    • This species was planted as part of a restoration effort and does not grow natively in Edgewood

	Hillside Gooseberry	Canyon Gooseberry	Chaparral Currant	Pink-flowering Currant
Height	＜5ft.	＜10ft.	＜7ft.	＜13ft.
Stems	spines … sometimes bristles¹	spines … usually bristles¹	no spines … no bristles¹	no spines … no bristles¹
Leaves	not hairy … not glandular (sticky)	hairy … glandular (sticky)	hairy … glandular (sticky)	hairy … not glandular (sticky)
Inflorescence	1-3 flowers	1-3 flowers	10-25 flowers	10-20 flowers
Sepals	green or pink-tinged	purple	pink to purple	red
Fruit	red, translucent … bristles	red … dense bristles	blue-black, glaucus² … hairs	purple, glaucus² … hairs
Seen at Edgewood	common	on Sylvan spur trail	native garden	outer parking area, along Cordilleras Creek

See General References

At Edgewood

• Found in chaparral and woodlands
  • See iNaturalist for observations of Ribes californicum
• Flowers January – April

Specific References

Allen, T.J., et al. 2005. Caterpillars in the Field and Garden. Oxford University Press.

Anderson, M.K. 2005. Tending the Wild. University of California, Berkeley. Pp. 234-35; 274-80.