Ribes roezlii
Common name: 
Sierra Gooseberry
Roezl's Gooseberry
Mountain Gooseberry
Pronunciation: 
ri-BEEZ ROZE-lee-eye
Family: 
Grossulariaceae
Genus: 
Ribes
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
Yes
  • Broadleaf, deciduous, multistemmed, spiny shrub, growing upright to a about 4 ft (1.2 m) tall, 1-3 spines ("thorns") per each branch node.  Leaves alternate, simple, up to 2.5 cm long, hairless to hairy or woolly, divided into 3 or 5 rounded, toothed lobes.  Flowers are solitary or 2-3 per cluster, they hang pendent from the branches and each has 5 reflexed red-purple sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller white or pinkish petals, from which the stamens and stigmas protrude.   Fruit is 2.5 cm long and covered in thick, long spines; red or purple when mature.
  • Sun
  • Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Except for extreme southwest Oregon, essentially limited to the mountains over the entire length of California.  Three varieties are recognized: R. r. var. amictum, R. r. var. cruentum, and R. r. var. roezlii.
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leafy shoot

    leafy shoot

  • leaves and spines (thorns)

    leaves and spines (thorns)

  • leaves and immature fruit

    leaves and immature fruit

  • leaf and immature fruit

    leaf and immature fruit