Ribes acerifolium

Mapleleaf Currant

Mapleleaf Currant
aka Ribes Howellii. The flower head is a drooping raceme of about ten greenish flowers with small reddish petals. Each saucer-shaped flower is less than 3/8″ (10 mm) across. The shrub is about 3′ tall with widely spreading branches. Leaves are about 1 – 3″ wide and indeed “maplelike.” Common and widespread usually found in clearings, avalanche tracks, roadsides as low as 4,000′ elevation but usually above 5,000′.

Family:

Grossulariaceae - GOOSEBERRY FAMILY

Genus:

Ribes from Arabic, ribas, a Moorish medical name for an unrelated plant

Species:

acerifolium from Latin acer 'maple', or acrid for sharpness or hardness
Photo location: From two location, Grand Park and boot path to Knapsack Pass (south of Mowich Lake).