Mountain gooseberry

Photo: Stan Shebs — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 3 through 7

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

A true high-mountain species, found from about 2,400 m up to alpine elevations among rocky talus and conifer bases across the western US. Fruit ripens from green to reddish-purple; edible but not as tasty as most other currants — more of a survival forage than a dessert fruit.

Hardiness

Zone 3–7

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

July–Oct

Mature size

Low, to about 0.8 m (2.5 ft)

Light

Full sun; cannot grow in shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.5 (mildly acid to mildly alkaline)

Environment

Alpine to subalpine

Native range

Western North America — Washington south to California, east to the Rocky Mountains; subalpine and alpine forest and talus.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs, with full bearing at 4–5 yrs

Growth speed

20–40 cm/year — medium.

Spacing

90 cm (35 in) apart — about 1.2 per m² (1.1 per 10 sq ft)

Leaf shape

Small, rounded and deeply 5-lobed, glandular-hairy and slightly sticky, on stems bristling with prickles and carrying 1–5 sharp spines at each node.

Root system

Shallow and fibrous, spreading laterally close to the surface rather than going deep — so it resents drought and competes badly with turf, but transplants easily.

Fruit description

Small, round, about 1 cm, ripening green to reddish-purple

Propagation

Hardwood cuttings taken during dormancy in late autumn root readily and are the standard method. Seed needs about three months moist cold stratification at 4°C; layering the low branches also works.

Pollination

⚠ Cultivated Ribes are self-fertile, but wild species are not reliably so — studies of wild Ribes found seed-bearing fruit came essentially only from insect cross-pollination. Plant two or more. Bumblebees and solitary bees do most of the work here, with hummingbirds visiting in its subalpine range.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.