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Ribes laxiflorum

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Ribes laxiflorum
R. laxiflorum specimen from Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, British Columbia

Secure  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Order: Saxifragales
Family: Grossulariaceae
Genus: Ribes
Species:
R. laxiflorum
Binomial name
Ribes laxiflorum
Synonyms

Ribes affine Douglas ex Bong.
Ribes coloradense Coville[2]

Ribes altamirani Jancz.

Ribes laxiflorum is a species of currant known by the common names trailing black currant, and spreading currant.[2] It is native to western North America.

Description

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Ribes laxiflorum is a spreading, trailing shrub usually growing .5–1 metre (1+123+12 feet) in height. It has been known to take a somewhat vine-like form in appropriate shady habitat with nearby supports, climbing to 7 m (23 ft) in length.[3] It has fuzzy, glandular stems lacking spines and prickles. The hairy, glandular, maple-shaped leaves are up to 10 centimetres (4 inches) long and deeply divided into several pointed lobes lined with dull teeth. The inflorescence is a mostly erect raceme of up to eight flowers. The distinctive flower has five greenish, purplish, or red sepals which are often curved back at the tips. At the center is a corolla of five red or pink petals each measuring 1 millimetre (132 in) long, narrow at the base and wider or club-shaped at the tip. Inside the corolla are five red stamens tipped with whitish anthers. The fruit is a purple-black berry measuring 4–14 mm (316916 in) wide which is waxy, hairy, or bristly in texture.[3]

Distribution and habitat

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It is native to western North America from Alaska and Yukon south as far as northern California and New Mexico;[4] it has also been found in Siberia. Its habitat includes moist mountain forests, open clearings, streambanks, and the borders of mountain roads.

Uses

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The berries are eaten locally (variously fresh, boiled, or as preserves) by Bella Coola, Haisla, Hanaksiala, Hesquiat, Kwakiutl, Lummi, Makah, Oweekeno, Skagit, and Tanana peoples.[5]

Other traditions use R. laxiflorum for an infusion to make an eyewash (roots and or branches, by the Bella Coolah).[5]

Decoctions of: bark to remedy tuberculosis (with the roots, by the Skokomish); or for the common cold (Skagit): leaves and twigs, as a general tonic (Lummi).[5]

Woody stems are fashioned into pipe stems (Hesquiat).[5]

References

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  1. ^ NatureServe (2024). "Ribes laxiflorum". Arlington, Virginia. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Flora Americae Septentrionalis; or, a Systematic Arrangement and Description of the Plants of North America 2:731. 1813–1814 "Ribes laxiflorum". Germplasm Resources Information Network. Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
  3. ^ a b Flora of North America, Ribes laxiflorum Pursh, 1813. Trailing black or spreading currant
  4. ^ Biota of North America Program 2014 state-level distribution map
  5. ^ a b c d Dan Moerman. "Search for Ribes laxiflorum". Native American Ethnobotany Database. Dearborn, Michigan: University of Michigan. Retrieved July 20, 2010.
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