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 bracteosum a whitish bloom, edible but sometimes unpleasant. Ribes bracteosum Ribes bracteosum, the stink currant, is a species of currant native to western coastal North America from southeastern Alaska to Mendocino County in California. "Ribes bracteosum" is a deciduous shrub, without thorns, growing to 3 m (10 feet) tall. The leaves are 5–20 cm (2-8 inches) across, palmately lobed with 5 or 7 lobes. The flowers are produced in spring after the leaves emerge, on racemes 15–30 cm (6-12 inches) long containing 20-40 flowers; each flower is 5–10 mm (2-4 inches) in diameter, with five white or greenish-tinged petals. The fruit,