Ribes americanum
Canadian currant ( Ribes americanum )
The Canadian currant ( Ribes americanum ) is an erect to 2 meters tall shrub with black fruit from the family of gooseberry plants ( Grossulariaceae ). The natural range of the species is located in Canada and the United States. The species is rarely cultivated.
Description
The Canadian currant is a 1 to 2 meters high, upright, unreinforced shrub with thin, downy and hairy gelbdrüsigen branches. The buds are brownish, ovoid, 2.5 to 5 mm long, hairy and glandular fluffy blunt tip. The leaves have a 2 to 5 centimeters long, hairy and loose glandular petiole. The leaf blade is simple, three-to five-lobed, broadly ovate to rounded, 2.5 to 6 inches long and 3 to 7, rarely up to 8 inches wide with heart- shaped to almost truncated base. The lobes are ovate to triangular- ovate, deeply serrated or doubly serrate and pointed. The central flap is slightly longer than the lateral. The upper leaf surface is bare, hairy across the bottom of the leaf veins. Both sides are yellow drüsenfleckig. The leaves are slightly fragrant.
The inflorescences are rare from 4 usually 5-8 inches long, hanging clusters of 8-20 or more flowers. The inflorescence spindles are hairy fluffy. The bracts are lanceolate to linear, 6-10 mm long, hairy, and loose drüsenfleckig. The flower stems are hairy and fluffy 2 to 4 millimeters long. The flowers are hermaphrodite. The flower cup is bell-shaped, yellowish white and hairy, 3-5 mm long, with horizontal standing, elongated to tongue-shaped, 3.5 to 6 mm long lobes with recurved ends. The petals are yellowish white, tongue- shaped, and 2.5 to 4.5 millimeters long. The stamens are about equal in length or slightly shorter than the petals. The anthers are oblong with a nectary at the top. The ovary is bald. The stylus is undivided or two-lobed and about equal in length to slightly longer than the stamens. The fruits are black, chubby, bald with a diameter of 8-10 mm. The Canadian currant flowers in May, the fruits mature from June to July.
Occurrence and habitat requirements
The natural range is located in the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan and extends to the south and southeast of the United States. The Canadian currant grows in bogs and swamps at altitudes 50-1700 meters in swamp forests on wetlands and wet meadows to sunny to light shade locations.
System
The Canadian currant ( Ribes americanum ) is a species of the genus currants (Ribes ) in the family of gooseberry plants ( Grossulariaceae ). It is assigned in the subgenus Ribes section Botrycarpum. The species was described in 1768 by Philip Miller for the first time scientifically. The genus name Ribes derives from the Arabic name of a species of rhubarb. The name was adopted in the Middle Ages because of the sour taste of the berries of some species, reminiscent of the taste of rhubarb, for the currants. The specific epithet refers to the origin of americanum Art
Use
The Canadian currant is sometimes used because of the spectacular autumn colors as an ornamental shrub. It also serves as bee pasture.