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Wax Currant
Ribes cereum
  
About Wax Currant (Ribes cereum) 10 Nurseries Carry This Plant Ribes cereum is a species of currant known by the common names wax currant (R. c. var. pedicellare is known as whisky currant). It is native to western North America, including British Columbia, Alberta, and much of the western United States, from Washington, Oregon, and California east as far as the western Dakotas and the Oklahoma Panhandle. Ribes cereum grows in several types of habitat, including mountain forests in alpine climates, sagebrush, and woodlands. It can grow in many types of soils, including sandy soils and soil made of clay substrates, serpentine soils, and lava beds. This is a spreading or erect shrub growing 20 centimeters (8 inches) to 2 meters (80 inches) tall. It is aromatic, with a "spicy" scent. The stems are fuzzy and often very glandular, and lack spines and prickles. The leaves are somewhat rounded and divided into shallow lobes which are toothed along the edges. The leaves are hairless to quite hairy, and usually studded with visible resin glands, particularly around the edges. The inflorescence is a clustered raceme of 2 to 9 flowers. The small flower is tubular with the white to pink sepals curling open at the tips to form a corolla-like structure. Inside there are minute white or pinkish petals, five stamens, and a two protruding green styles. The fruit is a rather tasteless red berry up to a centimeter (0. 4 inch) wide, with a characteristically long, dried flower remnant at the end.


One of it's former common names (S**** currant) is considered derogatory as a slur used against Native women.

Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
0.7 - 3 ft tall

Form
Form
Rounded

Growth Rate
Growth Rate
Fast

Dormancy
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
White, Pink, Red

Flowering Season
Flowering Season
Summer

Wildlife Supported
 


 

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Full Sun, Part Shade

Moisture
Moisture
Very Low

Nurseries
Nurseries

Ease of Care
Ease of Care
Moderately Easy

Soil Drainage
Soil Drainage
Fast, Medium, Slow

Soil Description
Soil Description
Prefers sandy or loamy soils. Does not grow well in clay soils.

Common uses
Common uses
Bird Gardens, Hummingbird Gardens, Butterfly Gardens, Bee Gardens

Propagation
Propagation?
For propagating by seed: 4-5 mos. stratification at 28° to 32°F ( USDA Forest Service 1974).

Natural Setting
Site Type
Site Type
Dry slopes, rocky places, forest edges

Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 5.8" - 120.2", Summer Precipitation: 0.28" - 4.46", Coldest Month: 11.1" - 53.6", Hottest Month: 34.6" - 76.8", Humidity: 0.44" - 29.37", Elevation: 3" - 14460"


Sources include: Wikipedia. All text shown in the "About" section of these pages is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Plant observation data provided by the participants of the California Consortia of Herbaria, Sunset information provided by Jepson Flora Project. Propogation from seed information provided by the Santa Barbara Botanical Garden from "Seed Propagation of Native California Plants" by Dara E. Emery. Sources of plant photos include CalPhotos, Wikimedia Commons, and independent plant photographers who have agreed to share their images with Calscape. Other general sources of information include Calflora, CNPS Manual of Vegetation Online, Jepson Flora Project, Las Pilitas, Theodore Payne, Tree of Life, The Xerces Society, and information provided by CNPS volunteer editors, with special thanks to Don Rideout. Climate data used in creation of plant range maps is from PRISM Climate Group, Oregon State University, using 30 year (1981-2010) annual "normals" at an 800 meter spatial resolution.

Links:   Jepson eFlora Taxon Page  CalPhotos  Wikipedia  Calflora


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