Ribes velutinum is a species of currant known by the common name desert gooseberry. It is native to the western United States (Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, California, and Arizona), where it grows in many types of habitat, including sagebrush, woodlands, and pine forests. Ribes velutinum var. goodingii (Gooding's gooseberry) is confined to the states of Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada and California. Ribes velutinum is a spreading shrub with a thick, arching, multibranched stem growing up to 2 meters (80 inches) long. Nodes along the stems are armed with spines which may reach 2 centimeters (0. 8 inch) in length. These are spines, not prickles, as they are derived from leaf material rather than from the plant epidermis (skin). The thick, leathery leaves have generally rounded blades divided shallowly into three or five lobes and dotted with glandular hairs. The small blades are borne on petioles. The inflorescence is a solitary flower or raceme of up to four flowers. Each small flower is a tube of white or yellowish sepals with smaller, similarly colored petals inside. The fruit is an edible berry one half to one centimeter (0. 2-0. 4 inch) wide which ripens yellow, then reddish or purple.