Ribes Ribes Ribes is a genus of about 150 known species of flowering plants native throughout the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. It is usually treated as the only genus in the family Grossulariaceae, but a few taxonomists place the gooseberry species in a separate genus of "Grossularia". Sometimes "Ribes" is instead included in the family Saxifragaceae. The genus "Ribes" includes the edible currants (blackcurrant, redcurrant, white currant), the gooseberry, and several hybrid varieties. It should not be confused with the dried currant used in cakes and puddings, which is a small-fruited cultivar of grape (Zante currant). "Ribes" gives its
Ribes sericeum Ribes sericeum Ribes sericeum is a species of currant known by the common name Lucia gooseberry, or Santa Lucia gooseberry; its Latin epithet of "sericeum" means "of silk". It is endemic to California, where it is known only from the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Central Coast and an additional isolated population in Santa Barbara County. "Ribes sericeum" grows on streambanks in forests and scrub habitat. It is an erect shrub growing one to two meters (40-80 inches) tall, its stems densely hairy and covered in prickles and glandular bristles. Nodes along the stem bear three spines each which may