golden currant
Ribes aureum
Unlike most gooseberries and currants, the golden currant is entirely thornless, making it highly popular with both wildlife and human foragers.
- Scientific name
- Ribes aureum
- Taxonomy
- Plantae › Tracheophyta › Magnoliopsida › Saxifragales › Grossulariaceae › Ribes
- IUCN Red List status
- Least Concern
- Population trend
- stable
- Biome
- grassland
- Habitat
- Riparian zones, moist grasslands, slopes, and open pine forests
- Diet
- Autotrophic (Photosynthesis)
- Range
- North America, Western United States, Western Canada, Northern Mexico
- Size
- 1 to 3 meters (3 to 10 feet) tall
- Lifespan
- 15-30 years
- Active
- diurnal
- Threats
- Habitat fragmentation, invasive plant competition, and overgrazing by livestock.
- Safe to approach?
- Harmless and safe to approach. This plant lacks the sharp thorns of its close relatives. The berries are edible when fully ripe (ranging from yellow to dark purple), but always ensure positive identification before tasting wild plants.
Ribes aureum , known by the common names golden currant , clove currant , pruterberry and buffalo currant , is a species in the genus Ribes . 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 .
Photo: peganum, CC-BY-SA, via iNaturalist
Plain-text version: /species/d217bc20-c429-4af1-9a2d-ad2035978a27.md