Ribes velutinum Greene

desert gooseberry
Gooding's gooseberry

More info for the term: shrub

Desert gooseberry is a native, deciduous, nonrhizomatous [29] shrub
growing from 3.3 to 6.6 feet (1-2 m) tall [13,28]. Its stout, rigid
branches are usually pubescent. The orbicular, three- to five-lobed
leaves are 0.2 to 0.8 inch (0.5-2 cm) long and at least as wide [8,28].
Racemes are three- to five-flowered. Hirsute berries are 0.2 to 0.32
inch (0.5-0.8 cm) in diameter [8,13,28].

Desert gooseberry ranges east from southeastern Washington and eastern
Oregon to Idaho, south to Arizona, and west to the Tehachapi Mountains
of California and the Sierra Nevada [8,9,28].

More info for the terms: moderate-severity fire, root crown, scarification, seed, wildfire

Severe fire that consumes the entire organic mantle probably kills
desert gooseberry and may destroy soil-stored seeds [12]. Desert
gooseberry survives some fires by sprouting from the root crown
[10,31,32]. Desert gooseberry is probably favored by low- to
moderate-severity fire because germination of soil-stored seed is
generally enhanced by scarification in Ribes spp. [3,12,19,20].

In pinyon-juniper woodlands, where desert gooseberry often occurs,
wildfire was a major force in maintaining understory species during
presettlement times. Wildfires occurred every 10 to 90 years [36].

At Silver Knoll, north of Reno, Nevada, mounds are formed at the base of
desert gooseberry by the burrowing activity of rodents. The mounds may
protect the sprouting root crowns of desert gooseberry, making them
difficult to reduce with fire. One year after a fire, desert gooseberry
plants were sprouting in whorls from burned stems even though they had
been completely top-killed by fire [32].

In Nevada and California, desert gooseberry occurred on 1- to 60-year
old burned and unburned sites. Eight out of 21 burns had been seeded
with grasses, including standard crested wheatgrass (Agropyron
desertorum), intermediate wheatgrass (Thinopyrum intermedium), and
smooth brome (Bromus inermis). Desert gooseberry showed no preference
for seeded or nonseeded sites [10].

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More info for the term: phanerophyte

Phanerophyte

More info for the term: frequency

Desert gooseberry generally occurs on dry, rocky foothills, mountain
slopes, or ridges in coarse, loamy soil [17,23,27] at elevations ranging
from 2,310 to 8,250 feet (700-2,500 m) [8,28]. At Lava Beds National
Monument, desert gooseberry grows on basalt outcrops and slopes of
cinder cones [4]. In singleleaf pinyon-Utah juniper (Juniperus
osteosperma) woodlands of Nevada and California, desert gooseberry
occurred with significantly (p less than .05) greater frequency on north and east
slopes than south and west aspects [10].

In the White Pine Mountains of White Pine County, Nevada, desert
gooseberry is near its southern distribution. Climate is semiarid with
a mean annual precipitation of 9.6 inches (240 mm). Most precipitation
falls in the form of snow in early spring and short-duration
thunderstorms during summer. The mean annual temperature is 44 degrees
Fahrenheit (6.8 deg C). The frost-free period is rarely greater than
100 days [27].

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This species is known to occur in association with the following cover types (as classified by the Society of American Foresters):

217 Aspen
220 Rocky Mountain juniper
237 Interior ponderosa pine
238 Western juniper
239 Pinyon-juniper

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This species is known to occur in the following ecosystem types (as named by the U.S. Forest Service in their Forest and Range Ecosystem [FRES] Type classification):

More info for the term: shrub

FRES21 Ponderosa pine
FRES29 Sagebrush
FRES34 Chaparral-mountain shrub
FRES35 Pinyon-juniper

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This species is known to occur in association with the following plant community types (as classified by Küchler 1964):

More info for the terms: forest, shrub, woodland

K010 Ponderosa shrub forest
K011 Western ponderosa forest
K022 Great Basin pine forest
K023 Juniper-pinyon woodland
K024 Juniper steppe woodland
K031 Oak-juniper woodlands
K032 Transition between K031 and K037
K037 Mountain-mahogany-oak scrub
K038 Great Basin sagebrush
K055 Sagebrush steppe

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This species is known to occur in association with the following Rangeland Cover Types (as classified by the Society for Range Management, SRM):

More info for the terms: association, shrubland, woodland

104 Antelope bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
105 Antelope bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
107 Western juniper/big sagebrush/bluebunch wheatgrass
109 Ponderosa pine shrubland
209 Montane shrubland
210 Bitterbrush
314 Big sagebrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
315 Big sagebrush-Idaho fescue
317 Bitterbrush-bluebunch wheatgrass
318 Bitterbrush-Idaho fescue
322 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany-bluebunch wheatgrass
401 Basin big sagebrush
402 Mountain big sagebrush
403 Wyoming big sagebrush
406 Low sagebrush
407 Stiff sagebrush
412 Juniper-pinyon woodland
415 Curlleaf mountain-mahogany
416 True mountain-mahogany
417 Littleleaf mountain-mahogany
419 Bittercherry
420 Snowbrush
421 Chokecherry-serviceberry-rose
504 Juniper-pinyon pine woodland
509 Transition between oak-juniper woodland and mahogany-oak association
612 Sagebrush-grass
733 Juniper-oak

Fire top-kills or kills desert gooseberry.

In White Pine County, Nevada, desert gooseberry was present in trace
amounts before prescribed burning in the spring, but it was not present
after burning in postfire years 1 and 2. Fire conditions were not
described [27].

More info for the term: fruit

Desert gooseberry is fair to poor forage for livestock. Deer,
chipmunks, scrub jays, and magpies consume its fruit [13].

Rodents burrow at the base of desert gooseberry; the roots and stems of
desert gooseberry help stabilize the walls of their tunnels [32].

More info for the term: cover

Desert gooseberry occurs in sagebrush and mountain brush communities,
coniferous forests, and woodlands in the Great Basin and adjacent
mountains.

In addition to the plant associations and cover types listed in
preceding slots, desert gooseberry occurs in the desert gooseberry/basin
wildrye (Leymus cinereus) community along the northern periphery of Lava
Beds National Monument, California [4].

Species commonly associated with desert gooseberry but not previously
mentioned include California red fir (Abies magnifica), white fir (A.
concolor), mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana), sugar pine (Pinus
lambertiana), whitebark pine (P. albicaulis) Jeffrey pine (P. jeffreyi),
Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), singleleaf pinyon (Pinus
monophylla), serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), spiny hopsage (Grayia
spinosa), cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), rabbitbrush (Chrysothamnus
spp.), broom snakeweed (Gutierrezia sarothrae), wax currant (Ribes
cereum), bottlebrush squirreltail (Elymus elymoides), western
needlegrass (Stipa occidentalis), and horsebrush (Tetradymia spp.)
[4,33,34,35].

More info for the term: shrub

Shrub

More info for the terms: association, tree

Desert gooseberry is an alternate host for white pine blister rust
(Cronartium ribicola) which infests five-needled pines. Tree mortality
from white pine blister rust is generally less in dry than in moist
climates [36]. Because of their association with the rust, Ribes spp.
have been targets of various eradication efforts; however, these efforts
have not been successful in the western states [7,14].

AZ CA ID NV OR UT WA

Gooseberries (Ribes spp.) are used for making jam, jelly, and pie [15].
Some western Indian tribes used gooseberries for making pemmican [13].

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More info for the terms: fruit, phenology

The specific phenology of desert gooseberry was not described in the
literature. Ribes spp. generally flower from April to June. The fruit
of Ribes spp. generally ripens June to September [15].

More info for the terms: cover, density, frequency, moderate-severity fire, prescribed burn, prescribed fire, root crown, shrubs, wildfire

Desert gooseberry sprouts from the root crown after low- to
moderate-severity fire and seedlings may establish after fire.

Near Reno, Nevada, desert gooseberry has been described as a "vigorous"
sprouter [31]. A summer wildfire burned a big sagebrush (Artemisia
tridentata)/Thurber needlegrass (Stipa thurberiana) community. In
postfire year 1 desert gooseberry occurred at a density of 0.06 to 0.08
plants per square meter; "virtually all" plants survived the fire and
sprouted. No desert gooseberry seedlings established the first year
[31]. In Nevada and California, desert gooseberry occurred on 1- to
60-year old burned sites. The origin of desert gooseberry (seedlings
or sprouts) on these sites was not specifically mentioned but the
authors described desert gooseberry as a "root-sprouting shrub" [10].

At Lava Beds National Monument, a July 1973 wildfire burned through a
bunchgrass community containing a small island of trees and shrubs,
including desert gooseberry. In 1977, a July prescribed fire was
conducted in a similar community that also included desert gooseberry.
The wildfire followed a month with no rain and low humidity. The
prescribed fire followed a month with high rainfall (2.04 inches [51
mm]). Fire conditions for both fires were as follows [24]:

1973 wildfire 1977 prescribed fire

daytime high temp
degrees Fahrenheit 82.4 80.6
degrees Celsius 28.0 27

percent humidity 20 18

percent moisture content
of dead wood 0.25-1 inch
(0.62-2.54 cm) 3 6

wind speed
mi/h 9-12 0.6-7.2
km/h 15-20 1-12

Fire severities were not described. In postfire year 1, average desert
gooseberry frequency was less than 1 percent for all treatments
(wildfire, prescribed burn, and controls). The cover, average height,
and percent of dead branches in individual desert gooseberry crowns were
slightly less on the wildfire site in postfire year 1 than on adjacent,
unburned sites. Average values for desert gooseberry follow; standard
deviations are in parentheses:

Percent cover Height Percent dead
(cm) crown

1973 wildfire 0.2 (0.6) 81.3 (19.3) 19.3 (16.8)
unburned control 0.4 (1.1) 118.8 (26.6) 5.5 (38.5)

1977 prescribed fire 0.1 (0.8) 75.0 (21.2) 89.5 (13.4)

More info for the terms: fire regime, ground residual colonizer, root crown, shrub

Small shrub, adventitious-bud root crown
Ground residual colonizer (on-site, initial community)


FIRE REGIMES : Find fire regime information for the plant communities in
which this species may occur by entering the species name in the FEIS home page under "Find FIRE REGIMES".

More info for the terms: duff, root crown, scarification, seed

Desert gooseberry reproduces by seed and sprouts from the root crown
following disturbance or fire [10,31,32].

Ribes spp. generally begin fruiting after 3 years [1]. Many seeds fall
beneath the parent plant; they are also dispersed by birds and animals.
Fallen seeds may remain viable in the soil and duff for many years
[19,20]. Seed germination is generally enhanced by scarification and
mineral soil [12,19,20].

The burrowing activity of rodents creates soil mounds at the base of
desert gooseberry plants. Aerial stems that become buried by the mounds
continue to grow and develop roots at stem nodes [32].

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This species can be found in the following regions of the western United States (according to the Bureau of Land Management classification of Physiographic Regions of the western United States):

4 Sierra Mountains
5 Columbia Plateau
6 Upper Basin and Range
7 Lower Basin and Range
8 Northern Rocky Mountains
9 Middle Rocky Mountains
10 Wyoming Basin
11 Southern Rocky Mountains
12 Colorado Plateau

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More info for the terms: constancy, cover, forest, frequency, shrub

Desert gooseberry is somewhat shade tolerant. It sometimes grows under
forest canopy, but it occurs most often and grows most vigorously on
open sites. In the Shoshone Range of western Nevada, desert gooseberry
occurred as an understory species in curlleaf mountain mahogany
(Cercocarpus ledifolius) communities where canopy cover approached 100
percent [17]. At Lava Beds National Monument, desert gooseberry was a
dominant overstory shrub on basalt outcrops [4].

Desert gooseberry can be found in all successional stages of
pinyon-juniper woodlands. In Nevada and California, it occurred burned
and unburned sites with 95 percent constancy. Percent frequency of
desert gooseberry in various seral stages was as follows [10]:

seral stage early early-mid mid mid-late late

postfire year 1 4-8 15-17 22-60 unburned

% frequency 25 72 48 59 56

Median percent cover of desert gooseberry was less than 20 percent.

The currently accepted scientific name for desert gooseberry is Ribes
velutinum Greene [8,30]. It is a member of the gooseberry family
(Grossulariaceae). Kartesz [30] recognizes the following two varieties:

R. v. var. goodingii (M. E. Peck) C. L. Hitchc. (Gooding's gooseberry)
R. v. var. velutinum Greene (desert gooseberry)

A third variety of desert gooseberry may be described based on specimens
collected in the Salmon River Canyon, near the mouth of Panther Creek,
Idaho [29].

Grossularia velutina (Greene) Coville & Britton
Ribes leptanthum brachyantkum. A. Gray, Bot. Calif. 1 : 205. 1876.
Ribes velutinum. Greene, Bull. Calif. Acad. 1 : 83. 1885.
Ribes brachyantkum Card, Bush Fruits 460. 1898.
Ribes glanduliferum. Heller, Muhlenbergia 2 : 56. 1905.
Ribes Stanfordii Klmer, Bot. Gaz. 41 : 315. 1906.
Ribes velutinum, brachyanthum. Jancz. M6ni. Soc. Geneve 35 : 381. 1907.
Ribes velutinum Greeneianum Jancz. M6ni. Soc. Geneve 35 : 381. 1907.
A shrub 2 m. high or less, with recurved branches devoid of bristles, the young shoots finely pubescent; nodal spines pale, acicular, 0.5-2 cm. long, straight or slightly curved. Leaves suborbicular in outline, 3-5-cleft, crenate, 1-1.5 cm. wide, cordate or truncate at the base, finely pubescent on both sides, or sometimes nearly glabrous ; petioles pubescent and sometimes with some gland-tipped hairs, mostly shorter than the blades ; peduncles 1-3-flowered, shorter than the leaves ; bracts broad, pubescent, longer than the pedicels, or shorter ; ovary densely pubescent, often glandular-hairy, rarely glabrous ; hypanthium short-cylindric, pubescent, about 2 mm. long and 3 mm. in diameter ; sepals yellow, somewhat pubescent, about 3 mm. long; petals oblong to obovate, yellow, 2-2.5 mm. long ; stamens not exceeding the petals, the anthers obtuse, 1-1.5 mm. long; style glabrous; berry yellow, about 7 mm. in diameter.
Type locality : Northern part of California and regions adjacent.
Distribution: Oregon to Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, and the mountains of southern California.

Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry.