Red Flowering Currant
Ribes sanguineum
Erect, unarmed, 1-3 meters tall, stems crooked, bark reddish-brown, young growth finely hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, deciduous, regularly or irregularly 5-lobed, 2-6 cm broad, lower surface paler and hairier.
Flowers: White to (more commonly) a distinctive rose color (varies from pale-pink to deep-red), 7-10 mm long; in erect to drooping clusters of 10-20 or more flowers.
Fruits: Blue-black, round berries with glandular hairs and a white waxy bloom, 7-9mm long; unpalatable.
Ecology: Dry open woods, rocky slopes, distrubed sites (e.g. roadsides, clearings); at low to middle elevations.
The name sanguineum means 'blood-red' or 'bloody' - rather violent epithets to apply to the beautiful reddish-pink flowers, which are harbingers of spring and hummingbirds.
source: Pojar's Plants of the Pacific Northwest Coast, 1994.
