A deciduous spiny shrub 3 to 6 ft high, more in diameter; young shoots minutely downy. Leaves roundish, 3⁄4 to 11⁄2 in. wide, three- or five-lobed, the lobes coarsely round-toothed, nearly or quite glabrous on both surfaces, stalk minutely downy, slender, 1⁄4 to 1⁄2 in. long. Flowers 3⁄4 in. wide, solitary, rarely in pairs, on a slender stalk 1⁄3 in. long, pendent. Receptacle 1⁄2 in. long, crimson, the tube narrowly bell-shaped, glabrous, the five sepals lanceolate, finally reflexed. Petals white, much shorter than the sepals; ovary covered with incipient spines. Fruits red, 2⁄3 in. across, with a hedgehog-like appearance due to their covering of numerous spines, each 1⁄6 to 1⁄4 in. long. Bot. Mag., t. 8105.
Native of California and S. Oregon; introduced in 1899. This interesting and remarkable gooseberry has flowers extremely pretty in their contrast of crimson and white, but they are not particularly abundant, usually one at each joint of the previous year’s wood. The berries are remarkable in their prickliness. It is closely allied to, and perhaps only a variety of R. roezlii, but that species is distinctly downy on leaf and receptacle. Effective grown as a standard.