Ribes "... We were refreshed, during our walk, with wild fruits ...
small prickly gooseberries," Gurney (1841). The presence of Wild Currants
and Gooseberries, both of the genus Ribes, is reported for Goat Island by
the Superintendent in the second report of the Commissioners of the Niagara
Reservation in 1886.
Ribes americanum Mill.
WILD or AMERICAN BLACK CURRANT. (As R. floridum) "along the
descent to the Ferry on the Canadian side," Day (1888). Ontario, Queen Victoria
Park (as R. floridum L'Her.), Panton (1890). (As R. floridum), "Lewiston," Field
Club, 1893. Ontario, Niagara Parks System
(as R. floridum), Cameron (1895). "... sometimes found in
the woods of the Glen," Hamilton (l943). DeVeaux College woods, Eckel
(1986).
New York: Second
of the Three Sisters Islands just S of Goat Island on the Niagara River. East
end. Several plants on water's edge, S shore. Flowers pale yellow-green.P.M.
Eckel w. R. Zander 8705283 May 18, 1987
(BUF); Goat Island on the Niagara River, thickets NW end, west of
Pedestrian Bridge, opposite Luna Island near river's edge. P.M. Eckel 880642
May 20, 1988 (BUF); DeVeaux
College Woods behind Whirlpool Park. Calcareous soils. Mature Quercus,
Fagus, Acer & Fraxinus woodland. Not very frequent. P. M. Eckel
1253185 May 24, 1985 (BUF); DeVeaux
College Woods,by the Whirlpool of the Niagara River. Shady mature secondary
Oak-Maple-Beech woodland. Heavy shade, moist. Dolomite substrate, river gravel
soils. P.M.Eckel 96122613 April 27, l986 (BUF);
Lewiston.
east of Niagara University; jct. Rte. NY31 and University Rd., small Quercus
velutina, Qu. palustris woods remnant, around 1.5 miles E of the Niagara
River.P. M. Eckel s.n. May 12, 1999 (BUF); Whirlpool State Park, northern
section, stone stairs leading down slope of the Niagara River gorge (DeVeaux
steps). Beside stairs. Rubus strigosus, Solidago flexicaulis, Vitis rip.
P. M. Eckel s.n. May 14, 2001 (BUF).
Ontario: Dufferin Islands, wet
central woods. P. M. Eckel, June 1, 1988 (BUF).
Ribes cynosbati
L. PRICKLY or PASTURE GOOSEBERRY. Goat Island, Sept. 19, 1877 (J. D. Hooker's
American Journal). "Goat Island," Day (1888). Ontario, Queen Victoria
Park, Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara Parks System, Cameron (1895). "Often
encountered in the open woods, particularly near the Whirlpool," Hamilton
(l943). Ontario: "Kingston, Niagara, Malden (Maclagan)," Macoun
(1877). "Dufferin Islands, [Niagara] Glen," sight records, Yaki
(1970).
New York: Whirlpool
State park, on the Niagara River, along path at gorge base, moist humus, with Actaea
pachypoda, Acer spicatum. P. M. Eckel s.n. May 7, 2000 (BUF).
Ribes glandulosum Grauer. SKUNK CURRANT. Ontario,
Niagara Parks System (as R. prostratum), Cameron (1895).
"... only occasionally," Hamilton (l943).
New York: Whirlpool
State park, on the Niagara River, base of gorge, pedicels densely glandular-pubescent.
Woods by path near base DeVeaux steps. Moist seepage. P. M. Eckel s.n. May 7,
2000 (BUF); Whirlpool
State park, on the Niagara River, near crest, scattered individuals under galleried
trees, with Arabis laevigata, Ranunculus acris (shrub layer removed). P.
M. Eckel s.n. May 7, 2000 (BUF).
Ribes hirtellum Michx. SMOOTH GOOSEBERRY. (As R. oxyacanthoides)
"wet places near Clifton, Ontario," Day (1888). Ontario, Queen
Victoria Park (as R. oxyacanthoides L.), Panton (1890). Ontario, Niagara
Parks System (as R. oxyacanthoides), Cameron (1895). "... at
Dufferin Islands ... is observed occasionally," Hamilton (l943).
New York: Crest
of the gorge of the Niagara River, dolomite projection, bare, just N of Whirlpool
State Pk. before steps to base of Niagara gorge, beyond the fence. P.M.Eckel
8705254 May 6, l987 (BUF); Whirlpool
State park, on the Niagara River, DeVeaux College woods edge, upriver, base of terraces
= a piece of the plant; lower stem thornier. P. M. Eckel s.n. May 18, 2000 (BUF).
[*Ribes odoratum Wendl.
in Bartl. & Wendl.] GOLDEN CURRENT. Ontario, Niagara Parks System (as Ribes
aureum BUFFALO CURRANT), Cameron (1895).
Not listed as a floristic
element in the Niagara Frontier Region by Zander and Pierce (l979). It is known
for Ontario (Morton & Venn, 1990). Mitchell (1986) lists this species as a
rare introduction into the New York State flora. It is a Great Plains shrub
grown for its fragrant yellow flowers, Bailey (1949).
*Ribes sativum Syme. RED
CURRANT, NORTHERN RED CURRANT. (As *Ribes rubrum L.) Ontario,
Niagara Park System, Cameron (1895). "... may be encountered in the
Glen," Hamilton (l943). NewYork: Cayuga Island, Eckel 1991.
New York: DeVeaux
College Woods behind Whirlpool Park. Calcareous soils. Mature Quercus, Fagus,
Acer & Fraxinus woodland. May be R. triste Pall.? . M.
Eckel 5215385 May 24, 1985
(BUF); Just below the old gorge railroad bed, south of the sewage
treatment plant, N of the old Schoelkopf plant. Gorge of the Niagara River.
Sprawling in woods. P.M.Eckel 8703257 May 24, 1986 (BUF); In woods below the old
Schoelkopf plant and above the sewage treatment plant, lower woods: Betula,
Acer, Quercus. Boulder field. P. M. Eckel 8704038 May 24, l986 (BUF); basal woods of the Niagara gorge,
N of old Schoelkopf power plant, "boulder field," Eckel 8704038 (BUF);
Lewiston, Scovell's Knoll, ArtPark woods: back of elevated knoll
close to the Niagara River, dense, rich woods: low area, moist, facing the
river. P. M. Eckel c. Marguerite Eckel 870651 May 5, l986 (BUF).
Ontario: Nature
Trail area at head of Whirlpool Ravine. Shaded path area, woods edge and top of
gorge slope. P.M.Eckel 8705297 May 6, 1986
(BUF); wooded slopes below Brock's Monument, berries red, P. M. Eckel, June 13,
1988 (BUF); Sheltered woods in basin just S of Whirlpool Basin. Damp, old
woods, loose dolomite talus, much Anomodon bryophyte communities.
Flowers yellow-green. P. M. Eckel 9005045 May 4, 1990 (BUF).
New York:
Erie Co. Tonawanda. Meadow along Niagara River. Fls. May 16, 1928 Frt. June
12, 1928 Charles A. Zenkert June 12, 1928 (BUF).
Bailey (1949) indicated the species as
Eurasian: "the currants grown in N. Amer. are probably all R. sativum;
in N. Eu. some of them are apparently R. rubrum; perhaps some of our
small-fruited very hardy kinds are hybrids of the two species."
Ribes triste Pallas, WILD RED CURRANT
New York: Whirlpool
State park, on the Niagara River, base of gorge, moist shaded woods, rocky with
pockets of soil in vicinity of R. glandulosum Sparsely glandular;
ovaries smooth. P. M. Eckel s.n. May 7, 2000 (BUF).