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".^[3] 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.^[4][5]

Ribes sericeum
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Order:	Saxifragales
Family:	Grossulariaceae
Genus:	Ribes
Species:	R. sericeum
Binomial name
Ribes sericeum Eastw.[1]
Synonyms[2]
Grossularia sericea (Eastw.) Coville & Britton

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 be over a centimeter (0.4 inch) long. The leaves are up to 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) long and are divided into several lobes with toothed edges. The leaves are hairy and glandular, especially on the undersides. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or a raceme of 2 or 3 flowers. Each flower has five reflexed green, red-tinged or red sepals around a tube-shaped ring of smaller whitish petals. The fruit is a purple berry up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long which is covered in bristles.^[4][6]