Ribes alpestre Wall. ex Decne.

Foodplant / parasite
hypophyllous telium of Cronartium ribicola parasitises leaf of Ribes alpestre
Remarks: season: 7-10

The fruit can be made into soft drinks and wine or eaten raw.

An erect shrub, l-2 m tall, with 3 prickles at each node. Twigs with inconspicuous gland tipped hairs or bristles. Leaves crowded on dwarf shoots, l.5-2.8 cm long, l.5-3.6 cm broad, orbicular, obtusely 3-5-lobed; lobes inciso-crenate, slightly hairy on both sides, basal nerves 3-7; petiole 0.5-5 cm long; stipules absent. Flowers pink, 4-6 mm in diameter, bisexual, solitary on short pubescent bracteate peduncles. Calyx tube 3 mm long, lobes 6 mm long, reflexed. Petals 3 mm long. Stamens exserted. Ovary pubescent with gland tipped hairs. Berries globose or ovoid, glandular and pubescent, 1 cm in diameter.

Shrubs 1-3 m tall. Branchlets puberulent when young; nodal spines 3, verticillate, stout, 1-3 cm; internodes sparsely and minutely prickly or stalked glandular. Buds ovoid; scales scarious. Petiole 2-3.5 cm, puberulent or sparsely glandular hairy; leaf blade broadly ovate, 1.5-3 × 2-4 cm, puberulent, more densely so along veins, glabrescent, base subtruncate to cordate; lobes 3-5, margin coarsely obtusely serrate or doubly serrate, apex obtuse; terminal lobe subequaling or slightly longer than lateral ones. Flowers axillary, solitary or 2 or 3 in short racemes, bisexual; bracts paired, broadly ovate to ovate-triangular, 2-3 mm, 3-veined; pedicel 5-8 mm, glabrous or sparsely glandular hairy. Calyx greenish or reddish brown, pubescent and sparsely stalked glandular, rarely glabrous; tube campanulate, 5-6 mm, glabrous adaxially; lobes reflexed, erect in fruit, oblong to ligulate, 5-7 mm. Petals white, elliptic to oblong, rarely obovate, 2.5-3.5 mm. Stamens ca. 4-5 mm; anthers exserted, ovoid, apex with cupular nectary. Ovary glabrous, rarely pubescent, usually stalked glandular. Style clavate, divided for almost 1/2 its length. Fruit purple, globose to ellipsoid, 1.2-1.5 × 1-1.2 cm, usually stalked glandular. Fl. Apr-Jun, fr. Jun-Sep.

Afghanistan, Himalaya (Kashmir to Bhutan), Tibet, W. & C. China.

Distribution: Fairly common in the alpine Himalayas from Kumaon-Kashmir alt. from 29-3900 m. Also reported from Sikaram, Kurram and Afghanistan by Aitchison.

Gansu, SE Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shanxi, W Sichuan, SE Xizang, W Yunnan [Afghanistan, Bhutan, Kashmir].

3200-3600 m

Fl. Per. May June.

Broad-leaved or coniferous forests, undergrowth of sparse forests on sunny slopes, forest margins, foothills, grasslands in ravines, river banks; 1000-3900 m.