BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Ribes aureum | Golden Currant 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Golden currant is a native, deciduous, rhizomatous shrub [53] growing
from 3.3 to 10 feet (1-3 m) tall.  Its numerous, stiff, erect branches
are smooth-barked.  The orbicular, three-lobed (three- to five-lobed for
Ribes aureum var. villosum) leaves are 0.24 to 1.9 inch (0.6-4.7 cm)
long and 0.4 to 2.7 inches (1-6.7 cm) wide.  Drooping racemes are five-
to fifteen-flowered.  Globose berries, 0.24 to 0.36 inch (6-9 mm) in
diameter, contain numerous seeds [11,15,19,22].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Phanerophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Golden currant reproduces vegetatively and by seed.

Golden currant reproduces vegetatively by rhizomes [8,50]; it sprouts
after cutting and fire [11].  Plants can also be grown from cuttings
[41].

Ribes spp. begin fruiting after 3 years [3].  Many seeds fall beneath
the parent plant; they are also dispersed by birds and mammals.  Fallen
seeds may remain viable in the soil and duff for many years [45,46].
Seed germination is generally enhanced by scarification [1,45,46];
however, 63 percent germination was obtained in the laboratory by
stratifying golden currant seeds at 28 and 36 degrees Fahrenheit (-2.2
and 2.2 deg C) for 60 days without scarification [34].


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Golden currant has wide ecological amplitude.  It commonly occurs on
floodplains, along streams, in ravines and washes, by springs, and on
mountain slopes [15,19,23,30,50].  Golden currant grows on fine- to
course-textured loam soil [5,14,33] at elevations up to 8,000 feet
(2,400 m) [9,15,33,54].


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Golden currant is somewhat shade tolerant.  On the Pine Ridge
escarpments in northwestern Nebraska, golden currant grows in open,
scattered, and dense pine stands [49].  In Minnesota, where fragrant
golden currant occurs, very dense balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and
northern whitecedar (Thuja occidentalis) overstories suppress Ribes spp.
[2].  In riparian vegetation throughout their range, Ribes spp. often
constitute an important part of the shrub cover.  They are only
occasionally shaded out by dense thickets of taller shrubs [29].

In western coniferous forests, Ribes spp. are early seral species,
sometimes persisting into the midseral stage [29,45,46].  In the
Bitterroot Mountains of Idaho, roots of Ribes spp. stabilize the soil
after disturbance, and foliage may shelter fir (Abies spp.), spruce
(Picea spp.), and western white pine (Pinus monticola) seedlings [26].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Golden currant flowers from early spring to June [11,50].  In the
Intermountain region, seeds mature from mid-July to mid-August [37].

Related categories for Species: Ribes aureum | Golden Currant