Ribes thacherianum, with the common name Santa Cruz gooseberry, or Santa Cruz Island gooseberry, is a rare North American species of currant found only on one island off the coast of California.[3]
Ribes thacherianum is an erect shrub growing to a maximum height around 2.5 meters (over 8 feet). The stems are coated in soft light hairs and bristles, and many of the stem nodes bear hard spines. The leaves are 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8-1.2 inches) long and shallowly divided into five dully toothed lobes.[4]
The inflorescence is made up of one or two flowers. Each flower has five reflexed pink sepals around a tube made up of smaller white petals. The stamens and stigmas protrude from the corolla. The fruit is a purple berry about 7 millimeters wide which is covered densely in bristles and hairs.[4]
Ribes thacherianum is endemic to Santa Cruz Island, one of the northern Channel Islands of California, and within Channel Islands National Park.[3] It grows in the pine woodlands of the coastal ravines.
Ribes thacherianum, with the common name Santa Cruz gooseberry, or Santa Cruz Island gooseberry, is a rare North American species of currant found only on one island off the coast of California.
