Home
Advanced Search Map Locator
View Settings
Nurseries Carrying this Plant Add Current Plant To List Edit Current Plant
Show all Photos

About Calscape Nurseries
California Garden Planner Bay Area Garden Planner (NEW) Planting Guide
Butterflies My Plant Lists
Contact Calscape
Tap map to see plants native to location
Order by Popularity Order by Common Name Order by Scientific Name Order by # of Butterflies Hosted
Show nursery cultivars Hide nursery cultivars
Show plants not in nurseries Hide plants not in nurseries
Grid view Text view
Loading....
Trailing Black Currant
Ribes laxiflorum
  
About Trailing Black Currant (Ribes laxiflorum) 1 Nurseries Carry This Plant Ribes laxiflorum is a species of currant known by the common names trailing black currant, and spreading currant. It is native to western North America from Alaska and Yukon south as far as northern California and New Mexico; it has also been found in Siberia. Its habitat includes moist mountain forests, open clearings, streambanks, and the borders of mountain roads. Ribes laxiflorum is a spreading, trailing shrub usually growing one half to one meter (20-40 inches) in height. It has been known to take a somewhat vine-like form in appropriate shady habitat with nearby supports, climbing to seven meters (23 feet) in length. It has fuzzy, glandular stems lacking spines and prickles. The hairy, glandular, maple-shaped leaves are up to 10 centimeters long and deeply divided into several pointed lobes lined with dull teeth. The inflorescence is a mostly erect raceme of up to eight flowers. The distinctive flower has five greenish, purplish, or red sepals which are often curved back at the tips. At the center is a corolla of five red or pink petals each measuring a millimeter long, narrow at the base and wider or club-shaped at the tip. Inside the corolla are five red stamens tipped with whitish anthers. The fruit is a purple-black berry measuring four to fourteen millimeters wide which is waxy, hairy, or bristly in texture. Uses. The berries are eaten locally (variously fresh, boiled, or as preserves) by Bella Coola, Haisla, Hanaksiala, Hesquiat, Kwakiutl, Lummi, Makah, Oweekeno, Skagit, and Tanana peoples. Other traditions use R. laxiflorum for: an infusion to make an eyewash (roots and or branches, by the Bella Coolah). Decoctions of: bark to remedy tuberculosis (with the roots, by the Skokomish); or for the common cold (Skagit): leaves and twigs, as a general tonic (Lummi). Woody stems are fashioned into pipe stems (Hesquiat).
Plant Description
Plant Type
Plant Type
Shrub

Size
Size
1.6 - 3.3 ft tall

Dormancy
Dormancy
Winter Deciduous

Flower Color
Flower Color
Pink, Green, Red

Wildlife Supported
 


 
Butterflies & moths hosted ( 40 likely * ) SHOW ALL

Landscaping Information
Sun
Sun
Shade, Part Shade

Nurseries
Nurseries

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

Sunset Zones
Sunset Zones?
1, 2, 3, 4*, 5*, 6*, 7, 15, 16, 17*

Natural Setting
Climate
Climate
Annual Precipitation: 41.4" - 88.9", Summer Precipitation: 1.04" - 2.51", Coldest Month: 43.1" - 47.2", Hottest Month: 57.7" - 65.0", Humidity: 0.27" - 11.47", Elevation: 11" - 478"

Alternative Names
Common Names: Spreading Currant


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


Sign in to your Calscape Account X




Once signed in, you'll be able to access any previously saved plant lists or create new ones.

Email Address
Password

Sign In