Ribes alpinum

Alpine Currant ( Ribes alpinum)

The Alpine Currant ( Ribes alpinum), also known as mountain currant, belongs to the family of gooseberry plants ( Grossulariaceae ).

Features

Vegetative characteristics

The Alpine currant is a deciduous, densely branched shrub, the plant height reaches up to 250 centimeters. The light gray branches have, in contrast to other Ribes species, no spines or thorns. From older parts of plants, the bark may peel into strips.

The stalked leaves are on short shoots in dense clusters. The petioles are ciliated with long glandular hairs. The change-constant leaves are triangular in outline to roundish, the leaf margin is coarsely toothed. The leaf blades are 3-5 inches long and three-to five-lobed. The leaf blade is the upper side dull green above, somewhat shiny and bald.

Flowers and Fruit

The Alpine Currant is dioecious dioecious getrenntgeschlechtig. The greenish- yellow flowers are mainly distributed in upright, unassuming grapes. The male inflorescences are 2-3 inches long and are ten - to 30 - flowered. The female inflorescences are significantly shorter and more than fünfblütig. The flower is in its investment always hermaphrodite, by suppressing the stamen circles or the ovary, but these are functionally unisexual. This species is thus imperfectly dioecious.

The bloom is four to fünfzählig and is about 5-9 millimeters wide. The petals are much shorter than the sepals. Bloom time is from April to May The flowers give off a fragrance like incense.

The spherical berry fruits are scarlet and taste quite bland. Fruit ripening takes place in August.

Other features

The chromosome number is 2n = 16

Occurrence

The Alpine Currant is widespread in central and northern Europe. Also in the mountains of south-western and southern Europe and northern and eastern Asia to find it.

This type comes from the plane to the front elevation subalpine level. In Germany it rises in the Alps at altitudes up to 1630 m. In Austria the kind in the Central Alps is rare, otherwise scattered. The Alpine Currant missing in Burgenland and in Vienna.

The lime-loving plant prefers partial shade location as deciduous forests, in particular (block) ravine forests. Herb-rich mixed forests of the montane and high montane, Gebirgsauen, Berberitzengebüsch and also pine - dry forests. The Alpine Currant is found mainly on sickerfrischen, nutrient - and base-rich (mostly calcareous ) soils.

Use

The Alpine currant tolerates very good exhaust, which is why it is often used in different (partly buntlaubigen and short stature ) varieties in roadside vegetation of large cities and industrial areas.

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