Ribes speciosum

Ribes speciosum is a species of flowering plant in the family Grossulariaceae, which includes the edible currants and gooseberries. It is a spiny deciduous shrub with spring-flowering, elongate red flowers that resemble fuchsias, though it is not closely related. Its common names are fuchsia-flowered gooseberry and Californian fuchsia.[2] It is native to central and southern California and Baja California, where it grows in the scrub and chaparral of the coastal mountain ranges.[3][4]

Fuchsia-flowered gooseberry
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Species:
R. speciosum
Binomial name
Ribes speciosum
Synonyms[1]

Description

Ribes speciosum is a spreading shrub which can reach 3 metres (9.8 ft) in maximum height, its stems coated in bristles with three long spines at each stem node. The leathery leaves are shallowly divided into several lobes and are mostly hairless, the upper surfaces dark green and shiny.[5]

The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of up to four flowers. The flower is a tube made up of the gland-studded scarlet sepals with the four red petals inside. The red stamens and stigmas protrude far from the mouth of the flower, each measuring up to 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) long.[5]

The fruit is a red-orange berry about a centimeter (0.4 inch) long, is covered densely in glandular bristles.[5]

Cultivation

Ribes speciosum is cultivated as an ornamental plant for use in drought-tolerant, native plant, and wildlife gardens. It prefers dappled to bright light, in dry gardens and under oaks.[6] The plant has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.[2][7]

References
  1.  Originally described and published in Fl. Amer. Sept. 2: 731-732. 1814 [1813]. "Name - Ribes speciosum Pursh". Tropicos. Saint Louis, Missouri: Missouri Botanical Garden. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
  2. "RHS Plant Selector - Ribes speciosum". Royal Horticultural Society. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
  3. Calflora taxon report, University of California, Ribes speciosum Pursh, fuchsia flowered gooseberry, fuchsiaflower gooseberry
  4. SEINet, Southwestern Biodiversity, Arizona chapter
  5. Flora of North America, Ribes speciosum
  6. Las Pilitas Nursery horticulture treatment: Ribes speciosum, Fuchsia-Flowering Gooseberry . accessed 1.28.2013
  7. "AGM Plants - Ornamental" (PDF). Royal Horticultural Society. July 2017. p. 87. Retrieved 9 October 2018.


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