Ribes lacustre

Swamp currant, Swamp Currant

Family: Grossulariaceae · Type: shrub · Native

Swamp currant is a California native shrub found in the Klamath Ranges, northern Coast Ranges, and high Cascade Ranges along creeks, seeps, and meadow margins at elevations of 1,065 to 2,525 meters. Flowering from June to July, this plant produces purple and cream-colored flowers with darker veins, set in compact clusters of 5 to 15 blossoms. Growing less than one meter tall with prostrate to ascending stems that have 3 to 9 distinctive nodal spines, the plant features bristly internodes. Its leaves are deeply lobed with 3 to 7 segments, dark green on the upper surface and light green underneath, reaching 3 to 5 centimeters wide. The fruit develops as a small black berry with glandular hairs, 4 to 6 millimeters in diameter.

Habitat: Along creeks, seeps, meadow margins

Bloom period: Jun-Jul

Elevation: 1065-2525 m

Bioregions: KR, NCoRH, CaRH

California counties: Siskiyou, Tulare, Humboldt, Alpine, Trinity, Tehama, Mono, Mariposa, Del Norte, Shasta, Placer, Tuolumne

Data from The California Species Project — 14,000+ California species with verified data from CNPS, CDFW, USFWS, Jepson eFlora, Cal-IPC, and more.