Coast Black Gooseberry, Straggly Gooseberry               ri-BEEZ di-VAR-i-kah-tum

• Deciduous multistemmed shrub, 3-8 ft (1-2.5 m) tall, long straggling branches, stout spines ("thorns") at nodes.  Leaves 2-6 cm wide, sometimes broader than long, 3-5 lobed, lobes more or less regularly toothed, upper suface pubescent as well as on the margins, sparsely pubescent on veins below.   Flowers in 2-4 flowered clusters (racemes), tubular and bicolored, sepals purplish or greenish purple, more or less reflexed, petals in center shorter, erect, white, pink, or red, stamens extending beyond petals.  Fruit globose, black, smooth, 6-10 mm diameter.
• Sun.
• Hardy to USDA Zone 7      Native from British Columbia to northern California; in Oregon it is found from the west slope of the Cascades to the coast.  Three varities are recognized:
     R. d. var. divaricatum: from British Columbia to Oregon
     R. d. var. publiflorum: Oregon and northern California
     R. d. var. parishii: southern California
• Oregon State Univ. campus: south of Peavy Hall, in "native plants" area