Ribes uva-crispa — European gooseberry
![Flowers: Ribes uva-crispa. ~ By Franco Giordana. ~ Copyright © 2024 Franco Giordana. ~ francogrd[at]gmail.com ~ Acta Plantarum - www.actaplantarum.org](https://newfs.s3.amazonaws.com/taxon-images-1000s1000/Grossulariaceae/ribes-uva-crispa-fl-fgiordana2.jpg)
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Facts
European gooseberry is a spiny shrub native to Great Britain south and east to the Caucusus region. It produces clusters of just a few pinkish-yellow flowers and unusual, bristly fruits that look like small, furry grapes. Despite their hairy-bristly covering, the fruits are edible either when green or (more sweetly) when fully ripened and red-pink. The leaves, on the other hand, contain toxic hydrogen cyanide, and should not be eaten.
Habitat
Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests, meadows and fields
New England distribution
Adapted from BONAP data
Native: indigenous.
Non-native: introduced (intentionally or unintentionally); has become naturalized.
County documented: documented to exist in the county by evidence (herbarium specimen, photograph). Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
State documented: documented to exist in the state, but not documented to a county within the state. Also covers those considered historical (not seen in 20 years).
Note: when native and non-native populations both exist in a county, only native status is shown on the map.
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enlargeCharacteristics
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
- Leaf blade length
- 20–50 mm
- Leaf blade width
- 20–60 mm
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- red
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
-
Buds or leaf scars
- Bud scale number
- there are three or more scales on the winter bud, and they overlap like shingles, with one edge covered and the other edge exposed
- Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)
- NA
- Collateral buds
- there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches
- Superposed buds
- there are no superposed buds on the branch
-
Flowers
- Carpels fused
- the carpels are fused to one another
- Enlarged sterile flowers
- there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant
- Flower petal color
- white
- Flower symmetry
- there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)
- Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)
- NA
- Hypanthium present
- the flower has a hypanthium
- Inflorescence type
-
- the inflorescence has only one flower on it
- the inflorescence is a raceme (a long unbranched stem with stalked flowers growing along it)
- Number of pistils
- 1
- Ovary position
- the ovary is below the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
- Petal and sepal arrangement
- the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures
- Petal appearance
- the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)
- Petal fusion
- the perianth parts are separate
- Sepal cilia (Ilex)
- NA
- Stamen number
-
- 4
- 5
- Stamen position relative to petals
- the stamens are lined up with the sepals (antesepalous)
- Stamens fused
- the stamens are not fused to one another
-
Fruits or seeds
- Berry color
- green
- Fruit tissue origin
-
- the hypanthium of the flower becomes part of the fruit
- there are no flower parts that form part of the fruit
- Fruit type (general)
- the fruit is fleshy
- Fruit type (specific)
- the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)
- Nut with spines (Fagaceae)
- NA
- Wings on fruit
- there are no wings on the fruit
-
Glands or sap
- Sap color
- the sap is clear and watery
- Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)
- NA
-
Growth form
- Growth form
- the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)
-
Leaves
- Hairs on upper side of leaf blade
- the upper side of the leaf is fuzzy or hairy
- Leaf blade base shape
-
- The base of the leaf blade is cordate (heart-shaped, with rounded lobes)
- the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
- Leaf blade edges
- the edge of the leaf blade has lobes, or it has both teeth and lobes
- Leaf blade edges (Acer)
- NA
- Leaf blade flatness
- the leaf is flat (planar) at the edges
- Leaf blade hairs
- the hairs on the leaf blade are different from the choices given
- Leaf blade length
- 20–50 mm
- Leaf blade scales
- there are no scales on the leaf blades
- Leaf blade shape
- the leaf blade is orbicular (roughly circular, as wide as long)
- Leaf blade texture
- the leaf blade is herbaceous (has a leafy texture)
- Leaf blade width
- 20–60 mm
- Leaf duration
- the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
- Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)
- NA
- Leaf stalk
- the leaves have leaf stalks
- Leaf stalk nectaries
- there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk
- Leaf teeth
-
- the leaf blade margin is crenate (with rounded teeth) or crenulate (with tiny, rounded teeth)
- the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth
- Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)
- NA
- Leaf type
- the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)
- Leaves per node
- there is one leaf per node along the stem
- Specific leaf type
- the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets
-
Place
- Habitat
- terrestrial
- New England state
-
- Connecticut
- Massachusetts
- New Hampshire
- Vermont
- Specific habitat
-
- edges of forests
- forests
- man-made or disturbed habitats
- meadows or fields
-
Stem, shoot, branch
- Aerial roots
- the plant has no aerial roots
- Bark texture
- the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth
- Branch brittleness (willows only)
- NA
- Branch cross-section
- the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles
- First-year cane (Rubus)
- NA
- Pith shape
- the outline of the pith in a twig is roughly round
- Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)
- NA
- Twig winter color
-
- brown
- gray
- red
- Wings on branch
- the branch does not have wings on it
- armature on plant
- the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns
Wetland status
Not classified
In New England
Distribution
- Connecticut
- present
- Maine
- present
- Massachusetts
- present
- New Hampshire
- present
- Rhode Island
- absent
- Vermont
- present
Conservation status
Exact status definitions can vary from state to state. For details, please check with your state.
var. sativum
- Massachusetts
- not applicable (S-rank: SNA)
Subspecies and varieties
Our variety is Ribes uva-crispa L. var. sativum DC.
From Flora Novae Angliae dichotomous key
12. Ribes uva-crispa L. var. sativum DC. E
European gooseberry. Grossularia reclinata (L.) P. Mill.; Ribes grossularia L.; R. uva-crispa L. ssp. reclinatum (L.) Reichenb. • CT, MA, NH, VT; also reported from ME by Campbell et al. (1995), but specimens are unknown. Fields, roadsides, forest fragments, abandoned homesteads.
Native to North America?
No
Sometimes confused with
- Ribes hirtellum:
- hypanthium, sepals, and fruit glabrous or rarely the hypanthium and fruit sparsely pubescent, sepals 3–4 mm long, oblong to broad-oblong, and nodal spines slender, 3–8 mm long (vs. R. uva-crispa, with hypanthium, sepals, and berry pubescent, sepals 5–7 mm long, round-obovate, and nodal spines stout, 10–15 mm long).
Synonyms
- Grossularia reclinata (L.) P. Mill.
- Ribes grossularia L.
- Ribes uva-crispa L. ssp. reclinatum (L.) Reichenb.