Ribes americanum
American black currant
Family GrossulariaceaeAlso called wild black currant, eastern black currant
About
Ribes americanum, the American or wild black currant, is a spineless North American shrub with drooping sprays of pale flowers and black berries that are edible when cooked.
Care at a glance
- Pet safety
- Not recorded. We have no source on whether this plant is safe for cats, dogs or other pets — that is not the same as safe. Keep it out of reach until you have checked.
- People
- Not recorded.
- Light
- Shade-tolerant; grows in the understory of closed woodland as well as in open sites.
- Mature size
- 0.5–1.5 m (20–60 in) tall; may form thickets.
Field notes
Morphology
An erect, thornless shrub 0.5–1.5 m tall that can form thickets. Glandular leaves up to about 8 cm long have 3–5 lobes and colour red and gold in autumn. Drooping racemes carry up to 15 whitish or greenish flowers, followed by smooth round black berries about 1 cm across.
Distribution & habitat
Widespread across Canada from Alberta to Nova Scotia and the northern United States, with outlying populations in Colorado and New Mexico. Grows in forests, conifer bogs, marshes, sedge meadows, mountains and disturbed roadsides, and tolerates closed-canopy shade.
Ecology
Visited by small bees including Augochlora, Augochlorella and Ceratina species. It is an alternate host of white pine blister rust and has sometimes been removed to control that disease. Reproduces mainly from seed.
History & etymology
Native Americans used the berries in pemmican; they are also made into jam and jelly.
Habitat
- Altitude
- Not recorded
- Altitude class
- —
- Native to
- Canada, United States
Cultivation
- Difficulty
- Not recorded
Text adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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