Grossulariaceae
Ribes cereum

Wax Currant

Shrub with more or less upright stems, nasty odor. Leaves gray-green, shiny, round, palmately lobed, almost 2 in. across, shallowly lobed, finely toothed. Flowers hang in clusters at tips of branches. Flower white with greenish to pale pink tint, tube long, 5 sepal lobes curling back, 5 small petals. Berries large, red-orange. Grows at dry edges of forests, alpine slopes often among rocks, at high elevations. Var. cereum often has hairy leaves with glands on both sides, bracts at top of flower tube with wide toothed tips. Var. colubrinum has hairless leaves 1/2–1 1/2 in. wide, grows mostly east of Cascade Mountain crest.

  • Rarity: Uncommon
  • Flowering Time: Late Spring, Early Summer
  • Life Cycle: Perennial
  • Height: 2--6 feet
  • Habitat: Subalpine, East-Side Forest
  • Found In: N Cascades Np, Crater Lake Np, Wallowas, Steens
  • Native: Yes

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