View sketch

Bristly Black Current, Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.
Saxifragaceae

Height: An erect shrub up to 1.5 m high.

Twigs: Yellowish and shiny and densely covered with bristly prickles and spines. Older branches have flaky bark and less prickles.

Leaves: Alternate, palmately veined, deeply 3-5 lobed, coarsely-toothed. They are heart-shaped at the base, and 2.5-6 cm across. Both surfaces are smooth or have a few scattered hairs. The margins are hairy-fringed. The leafstalks have scattered long hairs.

Flowers: Green tinged with purple, in loosely spreading or drooping clusters about 2.5 cm long. The flower stalks and the calyx are densely covered with glandular hairs. Blooms in June.

Fruit: Bristly, dark purple or black berries about 6 mm in diameter and edible. Ripen in August.

Habitat: Found in open woods, moist thickets, swamps and along shores throughout most of Newfoundland and southern Labrador. It has not been recorded from the Avalon Peninsula.

Source: Native Trees and Shrubs
of Newfoundland and Labrador
By A. Glen Ryan

Used with permission from
Parks and Natural Areas Division
Department of Environment and Conservation
Government of Newfoundland and Labrador 1995