Ribes uva-crispa L.
R. grossularia L., R. reclinatum L.
Eng.: Gooseberry. Spa.: Uva espina, grosellero espinoso. Fre.: Groseillier épineux, Groseillier à maquereaux. Ara.: Adil n-wussen, fadijji. Tam.: Tizurín inilten, ijdij, inhris, zedmumu, taghmamust, n’uchen.
Shrub or subshrub, deciduous, hermaphrodite, spiny, up to 1.5 m in height. Very ramose, ± intricate, with strong straight or slightly curved spines, about 8-10 mm, usually in groups of 3. Stems and old branches greyish —younger ones whitish—, a little fissured. Younger branches pubescent, greenish. Leaves alternate, grouped into short brachyblasts. Its outline is suborbicular, 0.7 to 5(6) cm in diameter, palmatifid or palmatipartite with 3-5 ± deep lobes, scalloped, pubescent on both sides, but particularly on the underside and margins, hairs a mix of eglanduliferous and glanduliferous or, frequently, glabrescent; green on both sides, but a little darker on the upper side, petiolate, with petioles nearly as long as the leaf. Flowers axillary, solitary, sometimes geminate, rarely ternate, with articulated pedicel. Calyx with 3-5 sepals, obovate-oblong, with rounded tip, about 3 mm long, pink or greenish-pink, petal-like. Corolla with 5 very small petals (1.3-1.5 mm), almost squamiform, same colour as the sepals. Stamens 5, erect, with white-pink filaments and yellow anthers. Fruit an ovoid-globose berry 8-15 mm long, crowned by the marcescent perianth, with glanduliferous hairs or glabrous, greenish, yellowish or purple.
Flowering:
March to June.
Fruiting:
August to October.
Habitat:
Forests, meadows, thickets, and rocks in areas with subhumid to humid bioclimate, mesomediterranean to oromediterranean floors. Between 1,500 and 3,400 m in altitude.
Distribution:
Europe, W central Asia and North Africa. In the latter region, in Morocco (Rif, Middle Atlas, High Atlas, Anti-Atlas and mountainous areas) and NE Algeria (Djurdjura, Aures and Refâa Mounts).
Observations:
Polymorphic species of which 3 varieties have been distinguished in North Africa, easily recognizable by its fruit: var. atlanticum Ball, with glabrous berries; var. subatlanticum Maire, with hairy non glandular berries, and var. glanduliferum (H.Lindb.) Maire, with hairy and glandular berries.
Conservation status:
It is a common species. Currently, it is not assessed at a global level in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. In the Livre Rouge de la flore vasculaire du Maroc (Fennane, 2021) it has been considered as Least Concern (LC).