Ribes inerme
Rydb.
Whitestem gooseberry
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What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit, a gooseberry about 8mm in diameter, can be eaten raw or cooked.
Where to Find It
It is a warm temperate plant. In Canada it grows in foothills and mountain forest. It suits hardiness zones 8-11.
Australia, Canada, Mexico, North America, USA,
How to Identify
A shrub. It grows 0.9-1.8 m high and spreads 1.5 m wide. It loses its leaves during the year. The plant has some thorns. The leaves are small and have 3-5 lobes. They have blunt teeth along the edge. The flowers are greenish with pink or white petals. They are in small clusters. The fruit are purple-red and edible.
How to Grow
Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality. Prefers a sunny position. Hardy to about -20°c. Some botanists include this species as part of R. divaricatum as R. divaricatum inerme. (Rydb.)Mc. Minn.. The stems are occasionally thorned or smooth. Plants can harbour a stage of 'white pine blister rust', so they should not be grown in the vicinity of pine trees. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.
Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 4–6 months cold stratification at 0°C and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Under normal storage conditions seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle, grow on in a cold frame for their first winter, then plant out in late spring the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10–15cm with a heel, can be taken in July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, can be taken November to February in a cold frame or sheltered bed outdoors.
Medicinal Uses
None known.
Other Uses
None known.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Ribes inerme is a species of currant known by the common names whitestem gooseberry and white stemmed gooseberry. It is native to western North America.
Notes
There are about 150 Ribes species.
Names & Synonyms
Grosella espinosa, Grosella peluda
References (10)
- Beckstrom-Sternberg, Stephen M., and James A. Duke. "The Foodplant Database." http://probe.nalusda.gov:8300/cgi-bin/browse/foodplantdb.(ACEDB version 4.0 - data version July 1994) (As Grossularia inermis)
- Cundall, P., (ed.), 2004, Gardening Australia: flora: the gardener's bible. ABC Books. p 1206
- Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 747
- MacKinnon, A., et al, 2009, Edible & Medicinal Plants of Canada. Lone Pine. p 106
- Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 1:202. 1900
- Moerman, D. F., 2010, Native American Ethnobotany. Timber Press. p 478
- Plants for a Future database, The Field, Penpol, Lostwithiel, Cornwall, PL22 0NG, UK. http://www.scs.leeds.ac.uk/pfaf/
- Segura, S., et al, 2018, The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2018) 65:1767–1793
- Turner, N., 1997, Food Plants of Interior First Peoples. Royal BC Museum Handbook p 127
- Turner, N., et al, 2011, "Up on the Mountain": Ethnobotanical Important of Montane Sites in Pacific Coastal North America. Journal of Ethnobiology 31(1): 4-43
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