Wax currant

Ribes cereum

Deciduous non-rhizomatous shrub up to 6 ft. tall with globe-like berries and short tubular white to pink flowers, blooming April to September. Adapted to a variety of soils from sands to clays on dry, open slopes, ridges and rock outcrops in open, coniferous forests, woodland edges, shrub-steppe, sagebrush desert and mountain shrub to subalpine habitats; up to 12,500 ft. elevation. Frequently occupies drier sites than Golden currant (R. aureum). May be found within pine, Rocky Mountain maple (Acer glabrum), Skunkbush sumac (Rhus aromatica), snowberry (Symphoricarpos spp.), Wood’s rose (Rosa woodsii) and Saskatoon serviceberry (Amelanchier alnifolia) communities. Provides cover as well as food for wild ungulates when little else is available. Berries are excellent food for birds and small mammals. Nectar is important to hummingbirds. Caterpillar host of the Rocky Mountain agapema moth.