Ribes tenue Jancz.

At least some of the records of Ribes tenue from the Himalayas may refer to the similar and closely related R. laciniatum.

Shrubs dioecious, 1-4 m tall. Branchlets slender, usually stalked glandular, unarmed. Buds purplish brown, ovoid to oblong-ovoid, 4-6 mm, apex acute. Petiole 1-3 cm, glabrous or sparsely glandular pubescent; leaf blade narrowly ovate, rarely suborbicular, 2-5.5 × 2-4 cm, pubescent then glabrescent, base truncate to cordate, margin lobed or parted; lobes or segments 3-5, margin incised doubly serrate, sometimes also with remote, coarse, sharp, simple teeth; terminal lobe or segment rhombic-ovate, 2-3 × as long as ovate or rhombic-ovate lateral ones, apex acuminate to caudate. Male racemes 3-5 cm, 10-20-flowered, female ones 1-3 cm, 5-15-flowered; rachis and pedicels pubescent and sparsely glandular hairy; bracts brown, lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 4-7 mm, 1-veined, margin shortly glandular hairy. Pedicel 2-6 mm. Calyx reddish brown, glabrous; tube saucer-shaped, 1-1.5 mm; lobes erect, ligulate to ovate, 2-3.5 mm. Petals dark red, cuneate-spatulate to subobovate, ca. 1 mm. Stamens subequaling petals; filaments subequaling anthers. Ovary glabrous. Style 2-lobed, shortly clavate in male flowers. Fruit dark red, rarely black, globose, 0.4-0.7 cm, glabrous. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Aug-Sep.

E Gansu, W Henan, W Hubei, NW Hunan, SW Shaanxi, Sichuan, Yunnan [Himalayas].

Forests or thickets on mountain slopes and in valleys, thickets in grasslands, ditch banks along roadsides; 1300-4200 m.