Ribes laxiflorum is a species of currant known by the common names trailing black currant, and spreading currant.[2] It is native to western North America.
Description
Ribes laxiflorum is a spreading, trailing shrub usually growing .5–1 metre (1+1⁄2–3+1⁄2 feet) in height. It has been known to take a somewhat vine-like form in appropriate shady habitat with nearby supports, climbing to 7 m (23 ft) in length.[3] It has fuzzy, glandular stems lacking spines and prickles. The hairy, glandular, maple-shaped leaves are up to 10 centimetres (4 inches) 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 1 millimetre (1⁄32 in) 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 4–14 mm (3⁄16–9⁄16 in) wide which is waxy, hairy, or bristly in texture.[3]
Distribution and habitat
It is native to western North America from Alaska and Yukon south as far as northern California and New Mexico;[4] it has also been found in Siberia. Its habitat includes moist mountain forests, open clearings, streambanks, and the borders of mountain roads.
