Ribes aureum

Classification System: APG IV

Superregnum: Eukaryota
Regnum: Plantae
Cladus: Angiosperms
Cladus: Eudicots
Cladus: Core eudicots
Ordo: Saxifragales

Familia: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Subgenus: Ribes subg. Ribes
Sectio: Ribes sect. Symphocalyx
Species: Ribes aureum
Varietates: R. a. var. gracillimum – R. a. var. villosum
Name

Ribes aureum Pursh, 1813–1814
Synonyms

Chrysobotrya aurea (Pursh) Rydb., Fl. Rocky Mts. 399 (1917)
Chrysobotrya intermedia Spach, Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. II. 4: 19 (1835)
Chrysobotrya lindleyana Spach, Ann. Sc. Nat. Ser. II. 4: 20 (1835)
Ribes ebracteatum Berland., Mem. Soc. Phys. Genev. 3: II. (1826) 60
Ribes inodorum Link, Handb. 2: 7 (1831)
Ribes longiflorum (Nutt.), Fras. Cat. (1813) n. 74, nomen, et ex Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Am. 1: 552
Ribes missurense Lodd. ex WendL.fil., Bartl. & WendL. fil. Beitr. 2: 17 non Nutt.
Ribes oregoni Hérincq, Hortic. Franc. (1872) t. 8
Ribes serotinum Lindb., Handb. Laubholzk. 3: 307 et 743, ad calc. (1893)
Ribes tenuiflorum Lindl., Trans. Hort. Soc. 7: 242 (1830)
Ribes utahense Hort., ex Handl. Trees Kew, Pt. 1: (Polypet.) 231 (1894)

Distribution
Native distribution areas:

Continental: Northern America
Alberta, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, Québec, Saskatchewan, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming
Introduced into:
Baltic States, Belgium, Bulgaria, Central European Russia, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Illinois, Indiana, Italy, Maine, Manchuria, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Romania, Sweden, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vermont, West Siberia, West Virginia, Yugoslavia

References: Brummitt, R.K. 2001. TDWG – World Geographical Scheme for Recording Plant Distributions, 2nd Edition
References
Primary references

Pursh, F.T. 1813 "1814". Flora Americae Septentrionalis, or, A systematic arrangement and description of the plants of North America. Vol. 1. xxxv + 358 pp., London: White, Cochrance, and co. BHL Reference page. : 1:164.

Additional references

Ackerfield, J. (2015). Flora of Colorado: 1-818. BRIT Press.
Allred, K.W. (2012). Flora Neomexicana, ed. 2, 1: 1-599. Range Science Herbarium, Las Cruces, New Mexico.

Links

Govaerts, R. et al. 2021. Ribes aureum in Kew Science Plants of the World online. The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published online. Accessed: 2021 Sep 24. Reference page.
International Plant Names Index. Sep 24. Ribes aureum. Published online. Accessed: {{{3}}} Sep 24.
Tropicos.org 2021. Ribes aureum. Missouri Botanical Garden. Published online. Accessed: 24 Sep 2021.
Hassler, M. 2021. Ribes aureum. World Plants: Synonymic Checklists of the Vascular Plants of the World In: Roskovh, Y., Abucay, L., Orrell, T., Nicolson, D., Bailly, N., Kirk, P., Bourgoin, T., DeWalt, R.E., Decock, W., De Wever, A., Nieukerken, E. van, Zarucchi, J. & Penev, L., eds. 2021. Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life. Published online. Accessed: 2021 Sep 24. Reference page.
USDA, ARS, Germplasm Resources Information Network. Ribes aureum in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service.

Vernacular names
беларуская: Парэчкі залацістыя
čeština: meruzalka zlatá
eesti: Kuldsõstar
suomi: Kultaherukka

Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant,[2] clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species of flowering plant in the genus Ribes.[3] It is native to Canada, most of the United States (except the southeast) and northern Mexico. The variety Ribes aureum var. villosum is sometimes considered a full species, Ribes odoratum.[4][5]

It belongs to the subgenus Ribes, which contains other currants, such as the blackcurrant and redcurrant (Ribes nigrum and rubrum), and is the sole member of the section Symphocalyx.[6]

Habitat

Ribes aureum can be found around gravel banks and plains around flowing water.[7]
Description

The plant is a small to medium-sized deciduous shrub, 2–3 metres (6 ft 7 in – 9 ft 10 in) tall. The leaves are green, semi-leathery,[7] with 3 or 5 lobes, and turn red in autumn.[8]

The plant blooms in spring with racemes of conspicuous golden yellow flowers, often with a pronounced, spicy fragrance similar to that of cloves or vanilla. Flowers may also be shades of cream to reddish, and are borne in clusters of up to 15.[9] The shrub produces berries about 1 centimetre (3⁄8 in) in diameter from an early age. Ripe fruits, amber yellow to black, are edible raw, but very tart, and are usually cooked with sugar; they can also be made into jelly.[7] The flowers are also edible.[9][8]
Varieties

Ribes aureum var. aureum: below 3,000 feet (910 m) in the western U.S.[10]
Ribes aureum var. gracillimum: below 3,000 feet (910 m) in the California Coast Ranges[11]
Ribes aureum var. villosum—clove currant (syn: Ribes odoratum); native west of Mississippi River, but naturalized further to the east[5]

Uses
Cultivation

Ribes aureum is widely cultivated as an ornamental plant, in traditional, native plant, drought tolerant, and wildlife gardens, and natural landscaping projects.[12] Unlike some other species of currants, Ribes aureum is in the remarkably drought-tolerant group of Ribes. Named cultivars have been introduced also.

Although the flowers are hermaphroditic, the yield is greatly benefited by cross-pollination.
Culinary and medicinal

The berries are edible but bitter.[13]

The berries were used for food, and other plant parts for medicine, by various Native American groups across its range in North America.[9][14]
Diseases

Rust host

This currant species is susceptible to white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola), a fungus which attacks and kills pines, so it is sometimes eradicated from forested areas where the fungus is active to prevent its spread.[9][15]
References

"Ribes aureum". World Checklist of Selected Plant Families (WCSP). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew – via The Plant List.
USDA, NRCS (n.d.). "Ribes aureum". The PLANTS Database (plants.usda.gov). Greensboro, North Carolina: National Plant Data Team. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
"Ribes aureum". Plants for a Future.
"Ribes odoratum". Plants for a Future.
Morin, Nancy R. (2009). "Ribes aureum var. villosum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 8. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
"Ribes aureum". Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). Agricultural Research Service (ARS), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Taylor, Ronald J. (1994) [1992]. Sagebrush Country: A Wildflower Sanctuary (rev. ed.). Missoula, MT: Mountain Press Pub. Co. p. 42. ISBN 0-87842-280-3. OCLC 25708726.
Morin, Nancy R. (2009). "Ribes aureum". In Flora of North America Editorial Committee (ed.). Flora of North America North of Mexico (FNA). Vol. 8. New York and Oxford – via eFloras.org, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO & Harvard University Herbaria, Cambridge, MA.
USDA Species Profile
Jepson Manual treatment for Ribes aureum var. aureum
Jepson Manual treatment for Ribes aureum var. gracillimum
Las Pilitas Nursery horticultural treatment: Ribes aureum . accessed 1.30.2013
Fagan, Damian (2019). Wildflowers of Oregon: A Field Guide to Over 400 Wildflowers, Trees, and Shrubs of the Coast, Cascades, and High Desert. Guilford, CT: FalconGuides. p. 127. ISBN 978-1-4930-3633-2. OCLC 1073035766.
University of Michigan (Dearborn): Ethnobotany
Marshall, K. Anna (1995). "Ribes aureum". Fire Effects Information System (FEIS). US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service (USFS), Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fire Sciences Laboratory.