Common Name: American Mountain Gooseberry

General Information

Ribes oxyacanthoides is a spiny, deciduous shrub with erect or spreading stems; it can grow 30 - 200cm tall[].
The plant is harvested from the wild for local use as a food and a medicine.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

, ,

Range

N. America - Alaska to Newfoundland, south to Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Nebraska and Michegan

Habitat

Rock outcrops, gravelly streamsides and lakeshores, open forests, rocky slopes, sandy islands, raised beach ridges, coastal sand dunes; 200 - 1,900 metres[]. Moist thickets and riverbanks[]. Prairies and canyons[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Medicinal Rating
Habit	Deciduous Shrub
Height	1.50 m
Pollinators	Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Ribes oxyacanthoides is very cold hardy, when dormant it can tolerate temperatures falling to around -20°c[].
Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality[, ]. Plants are quite tolerant of shade though do not fruit so well in such a position[].
This species is closely related to Ribes hirtellum and Ribes uva-crispi[].
This species is free of spines and is being used in modern gooseberry breeding programmes[]. Another report says that it has nodal thorns 1cm long[].
White pine blister rust, caused by the pathogen Cronartium ribicola, is a fungal disease that is native to Asia but has spread via human activity to many other regions, where it has become more virulent. It has a complex life-cycle that requires both currants (Ribes species) and white pines (Pinus species of the section Strobus) for the disease to spread. Whilst Ribes species can generally live with the disease (it has an annual life-cycle and infects the leaves only) Pinus species can be devastated by it (it becomes perennial and spreads through the tree). Young pines are far more susceptible than mature trees. In America the growing of certain Ribes species is banned in some areas in order to protect plantations of white pine species.
Plants in this genus tend to be notably susceptible to honey fungus[].

Edible Uses

Fruit - raw or cooked[]. A gooseberry with a sweet and pleasant flavour[]. It is used in jams and pies[, , , ]. The fruit can also be dried for later use[]. The reddish, greenish purple, or deep purplish black, globose fruit is about 7 - 16mm in diameter[].

Leaves - raw[, ].

Medicinal

A decoction of the stems, combined with the stems of wild blackcurrants (Ribes spp), has been used to treat sickness after childbirth[].

Other Uses

None known

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months cold stratification at between 0 and 5°c and should be sown as early in the year as possible[, ]. Under normal storage conditions the seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out in late spring of the following year.
Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, mid summer in a frame[, ].
Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, late autumn to late winter in a cold frame or sheltered bed outdoors[, ].