Author:
Qjure
Book:
Qjurious
Type:
Info
Chapter:
3-652.16.00
Grossulariaceae
Name: the Latin word grossulus means an unripe fig; Ribes is latinised from the semitic word ribas meaning acid taste.
Clades: Saxifragales; Saxifragidae; Malvanae; Angiospermae; Plants.
Genera: Ribes; 150 species.
Region: Northern Hemisphere, extending into south America.
Medicinal: Blackfoot Indians use Ribes hudsonianum, blackcurrant root, for kidney diseases, menstrual and menopausal problems; Cree Indians used the fruit of Ribes glandulosum as a fertility enhancer to assist women in becoming pregnant.
Content: high in gamma-linolenic acid, GLA, an effective treatment for pre-menstrual syndrome.
Use: cultivated for their fruit; ornamentals
Botany
Shrubs; usually deciduous.
Taxonomy
Grossulariaceae is a Family in Saxifragales. In the Apg3 and Apg4 classifications Grossulariaceae is included in Saxifragaceae. Ribes includes the edible currants like blackcurrant, redcurrant, white currant, gooseberry, and several hybrid varieties; Grossularia, the gooseberry, is sometimes treated as a separate genus, usually as included in Ribes. This leads to the strange situation that Grossularia is not a genus in Grossulariaceae.