I found this gooseberry in Manning Provincial Park on June 8, 2006. It was raining rather heavily. Therefore I used flashlight. Can the species be named?
Ribes sanguineum, white form ? R. viscosissimum grows there, but believe the leaf shape is different.
Thank you for your opinion! I suppose, however, that Ribes sanguineum usually has more tubular flowers see e. g. http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Ribes sanguineum&redblue=Both&lifeform=4. I do not know a white variety of Ribes sanguineum but this might be possible because many plants with red flowers also occur with white flowers. I wonder whether my plant could be Ribes hudsonianum, see http://linnet.geog.ubc.ca/Atlas/Atlas.aspx?sciname=Ribes hudsonianum&redblue=Both&lifeform=4. There seem to be a few (glandular?) hairs on the ovary, but not many of them. What do you think about this suggestion?
Believe UBC introduced 'White Icicle' , a white form of R . sanguineum. Wonder if Ribes ever hybridize naturally in the wild.
For what it is worth, it is certainly easy to get white-flowered cultivars of R. sanguineum in Britain. R. hudsonianum certainly looks a much better match: http://plants.usda.gov/java/largeImage?imageID=rihu_002_avp.tif
Maybe, the leaves seem cupped and a different shape to me than the one shown in your pic, but maybe those characteristics aren't relevant and the leaves may be variable. Stalk appears shorter than the blade in your pic which would match description of R. sanguineum given, but then as mentioned flowers of R. sanguineum seem more tubular. Maybe hard to go by a photo of a single leaf due to variability. Really not sure and one reason for wondering if they are known to hybridize in the wild. Somebody with B.C. native plant knowledge may be certain.
I'll call the gooseberry Ribes hudsonianum(?) with a question mark unless someone comes up with a sure identification. Thank you for your opinions about this plant.
One small point - it's definitely a currant (Ribes subgenus Ribes), not a gooseberry (Ribes subgenus Grossularia).