Trailing gooseberry

Ribes montanum Howell, Fl. N.W. Amer., 210. 1898, not Philippi 1859; Grossularia binominata (A. Heller) Coville & Britton

Plants 0.1-1 m. Stems spreading to prostrate, pubescent; spines at nodes 3, 5-20 mm; prickles on internodes absent. Leaves: petiole 2-5 cm, puberulent to villous and stipitate-glandular; blade suborbiculate, 3-5-lobed, deeply cleft, 2-5 cm, base cordate, surfaces pubescent, not stipitate-glandular, lobes broadly cuneate, sides mostly straight, margins dentate-crenate, apex rounded. Inflorescences pendent, solitary flowers or 2-3-flowered racemes, 1-4 cm (much shorter than leaves), axis hairy, flowers evenly spaced. Pedicels not jointed, 1-2 mm, bristly; bracts lanceolate-ovate, 1.5-3 mm, puberulent. Flowers: hypanthium green, broadly campanulate, 2-3(-4) mm, pubescent; sepals not overlapping, reflexed, greenish white to green with red margins, lanceolate, 4-6 mm; petals nearly connivent, erect, white to pink, oblong, flat or shallowly concave abaxially, 2-3 mm; nectary disc not prominent; stamens longer than petals; filaments slightly expanded at base, 2-4 mm, glabrous; anthers reddish brown, oval, 0.2-0.5 mm, apex blunt; ovary densely bristly and glandular; styles connate 1/2 their lengths, 2-4 mm, glabrous. Berries palatability not known, yellow-green, ovoid, 8-10 mm, prickles yellow, nonglandular, stout, developing into spines, hairs glandular or eglandular.

Flowering Apr-Jul. Montane and subalpine forests; of conservation concern; 1000-2600 m; Calif., Oreg.

Ribes binominatum occurs at relatively high elevations in the Coast Ranges of northern California and the Klamath Mountains of central and southern Oregon.