Ribes aureum where the fungus is active to prevent its spread. Ribes aureum Ribes aureum, known by the common names golden currant, clove currant, pruterberry and buffalo currant, is a species in the genus "Ribes". It is native to Canada, most of the United States (except the southeast) and northern Mexico. The variety "Ribes aureum" var. "villosum" is sometimes considered a full species, Ribes odoratum. It belongs to the subgenus "Ribes", which contains other currants, such as the blackcurrant and redcurrant ("Ribes nigrum" and "rubrum"), and is the sole member of the section "Symphocalyx". "Ribes aureum" is a small to medium-sized deciduous
Ribes roezlii flowers hanging pendent from the branches. Each flower has five reflexed red-purple sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller white or pinkish petals, the stamens and stigmas protruding. The fruit is a red or purple berry up to 2.5 centimeters long which is covered in thick, long spines. Among other currants and gooseberries with overlapping ranges, such as mountain gooseberry ("Ribes montigenum") or wax currant ("Ribes cereum"), the sierra gooseberry is especially notable for the large size and extreme spininess of its berries, and for the absence of a noticeable dried flower remnant at the end of the fruit. Seeds