If you've spent any time in the higher elevations of Colorado, you've probably seen this plant. It can be very abundant and is also one of our tastier currant and gooseberry species. Let's learn how to identify alpine prickly currant, review potential look-alikes, and get to foraging!
Ribes montigenum has a variety of common names. If you look online, you'll see mountain gooseberry, alpine prickly currant, western prickly gooseberry, and, most confusingly, gooseberry currant. This leads us to an interesting discussion: is it a currant or a gooseberry? The Ribes genus consists of currants and gooseberries, but distinguishing between the two can be a bit confusing. Some people say gooseberries have thorns, and currants do not. Other sources say that's not the case. I've also read that gooseberries have flowers spread along the stem and currants flower in clumps on the end of the branches. Trying to distinguish between the two can be quite a process, especially when they have common names like gooseberry currant. Luckily, they're all Ribes, and all of the species in Ribes are edible, though some are better than others!
Description
Alpine prickly currant is pretty easy to identify and differentiate from other Ribes species. Like other Ribes, the leaves of R. montigenum are generally round with several deep, toothed lobes. The branches have short, stout thorns, which can make harvesting the berries slightly painful but can be avoided with a bit of care. The bell-shaped flowers which bloom spring to summer are pink to light orange in color, these flowers start to turn into berries mid summer and are usually ripe in August and September. The red berries of the mountain currant are pretty distinct because of the small bristles surrounding their surface. These hairs are harmless, unlike other species of Ribes whose berries have thorns on them. Finally, like other Ribes the berries will have a small, dried remnant of the flower attached to the underside. These are also harmless and do not need to be removed.
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Range & Habitats
Ribes montigenum is native to the alpine and subalpine habitats of the western states. It tends to grow in rocky areas and at the bases of conifer trees from about 8,000ft up to alpine. Sometimes, it grows as a single plant here and there, but most times, it can be found in expansive colonies—the latter being the best for collecting any quantities of these tasty berries! In Colorado, I often see these growing in large colonies on the edges of spruce-fir forests and along rock fields in subalpine habitats.
Potential Look-alikes
Currants and gooseberries are great for beginning foragers because they're pretty simple to identify, the entire genus is safe to consume, and they don't have many look-alikes. You'll most likely confuse one species of Ribes for another before they have fruit on them. The most common similar species would be wax currant, Ribes cereum, which lacks spines on the branches, does not have bristles on its fruit, and has a longer dried inflorescence.
Foraging & Using Alpine Prickly Currant
The fruits of alpine prickly currant are mild, slightly sweet, and tart. They are great right off the shrub, especially during those late summer camping trips. Watch out for the thorns! They can be used to make jelly, jam, and other sweet infusions and also go great in various baked goods and even some savory dishes. These tend to fruit variably, with some plants producing more berries than others, but you can usually forage enough of them in one area to make it worthwhile. The young, new leaves can be dried and made into currant leaf tea.
Foraging Calendar
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