Ribes davidii
Common name: 
ge ye cha biao zi (革叶茶藨子) (Chinese name)
Pronunciation: 
ri-BEEZ da-VID-e-i
Family: 
Grossulariaceae
Genus: 
Ribes
Type: 
Broadleaf
Native to (or naturalized in) Oregon: 
No
  • Evergreen shrub, 1-3 ft (0.3-1 m) high, branchlets spreading and not prickly.  Leaves are alternate, simple, 2-5 clustered at branch tips, obovate-elliptic to broadly elliptic, 2-5 × 1.5-3 cm, leathery, glandular hairy, 3-veined, unlobed or 3-lobed, petiole 0.5-1.5 cm long.  Dioecious – male and female plants.  Male flower clusters erect, 2-4(-6) cm long, with 5-18-flowers.  Female clusters often axillary, 2-3 cm, 2-3(-7) flowered; greenish-white to yellowish-green.  Fruit purple, more or less ellipsoid, about 1 × 0.7 cm, glabrous (without hairs).
  • Shade to part shade, moisture needs, average to moist.
  • Hardy to USDA Zone (7) 8
  • Native to China; N Guizhou, SW Hubei, SW Hunan, Sichuan, NW Yunnan.  Found in deciduous and mixed forests, ravine forests, shady and moist places on mountain slopes, cliffs, rocks, roadsides; elevation 3,000-8,500 ft (~900-2700 m).
  • davidii: after the missionary priest and plant exporeer, Jean Pierre Armand David (1826-1900), who extensively traveled and collected in China.  
  • Federal Way, Washington: Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden
Click image to enlarge
  • plant habit

    plant habit

  • leaves

    leaves

  • leaf

    leaf

  • leaves and opening flower cluster

    leaves and opening flower cluster