The gooseberry is indigenous to many parts of Europe and western, south and southeast Asia, and North America growing naturally in alpine thickets and rocky woods in the lower country, from France eastward, well into the Himalayas and peninsular India. Gooseberries are derived mostly from two species: the European gooseberry (Ribes grossularia), native to the Caucasus Mountains and North Africa; and the American gooseberry (R. hirtellum), native to northeastern and north-central United States and adjacent parts of Canada. "European" cultivars are pure species, but virtually all "American" cultivars also have European genes.