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
• 3 spines at nodes (junction of leaf and stem); sometimes internodes have bristles
• 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)

• Valuable food and habitat for wildlife; spines of the fruit do not prevent birds and mammals from eating the berries
• Host plant for tailed copper butterfly caterpillar (Lycaena arota)

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
• 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)
• Flowers, leaves, and spines arise from the same node
• Edgewood’s hillside gooseberry is classified as a variety
  • Subspecies rank is used to recognize geographic distinctiveness, whereas variety rank is appropriate for variants seen throughout the geographic range of the species; in practice, these two ranks are not distinct

ID Tips

• May be confused with chaparral currant (R. malvaceum)
  • Hillside gooseberry, like all gooseberries, has spines on stems and bristles on berries
  • Chaparral currant, like other currants, lacks spines
• May be confused with canyon gooseberry (R. menziesii var. menziesii)
  • Hillside gooseberry is common at Edgewood
    • Grows in sun or shade
    • Leaves are not hairy and usually not sticky (glandular)
    • Has spines at nodes (junctions of leaf and stem), but usually lacks bristles between nodes
  • Canyon gooseberry is uncommon at Edgewood
    • Grows in deeper shade
    • Has sticky (glandular), hairy leaves
    • Has spines at nodes and dense bristles between nodes

At Edgewood

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

See General References

Specific References

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