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cultivated black currant, European black currant, gadellier noir, garden black currant

Habit Plants 1–2 m. Stems erect, glandular and puberulent or nearly glabrous; spines at nodes absent; prickles on internodes absent.
Leaves

petiole 1–4 cm, pubescent, sometimes with longer setose hairs basally;

blade reniform, 3–5-lobed, cleft nearly to midrib, 5–10 cm, base cordate, surfaces with shiny, resinous glands, lobes broadly ovate, margins irregularly serrate, apex acute.

Inflorescences

pendent, 4–10-flowered racemes, 3–5 cm, axis pubescent, flowers evenly spaced.

Pedicels

jointed, 2–10 mm, glabrous or finely pubescent to lanate;

bracts ovate, 0.5–2 mm, pubescent.

Flowers

hypanthium green, cup-shaped or short-campanulate, 3–4 mm, densely pubescent or tomentose;

sepals not overlapping, reflexed, greenish or pinkish abaxially, suffused with purple adaxially, oblong, 5–7 mm;

petals nearly connivent, erect, white to reddish, bluntly deltate, not conspicuously revolute or inrolled, 1.5–3 mm;

nectary disc prominent, green or purplish, circular, covering ovary;

stamens slightly longer than petals;

filaments linear, 2–2.5 mm, glabrous with some glands;

anthers white, sagittate, 1 mm, apex blunt;

ovary pubescent, sessile-glandular;

styles connate nearly to stigmas, 3 mm, very finely hairy.

Berries

sweet-tasting, black, globose, 12–15 mm, glabrous with some sessile glands.

Ribes nigrum

Phenology Flowering May–Jun.
Habitat Wet meadows, disturbed streamsides, anthropogenic habitats
Elevation 100-300 m (300-1000 ft)
Distribution
from FNA
CT; IL; MA; MD; ME; MI; MN; NH; NJ; NY; OH; VT; WI; NB; NF; NS; ON; PE; QC; Eurasia [Introduced in North America]
[WildflowerSearch map]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Ribes nigrum is the source of the cultivated black currant. It has a strong, unpleasant odor.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 8, p. 18.
Parent taxa Grossulariaceae > Ribes
Sibling taxa
R. acerifolium, R. amarum, R. americanum, R. aureum, R. binominatum, R. bracteosum, R. californicum, R. canthariforme, R. cereum, R. curvatum, R. cynosbati, R. diacanthum, R. divaricatum, R. echinellum, R. erythrocarpum, R. glandulosum, R. hirtellum, R. hudsonianum, R. indecorum, R. inerme, R. lacustre, R. lasianthum, R. laxiflorum, R. leptanthum, R. lobbii, R. malvaceum, R. marshallii, R. menziesii, R. mescalerium, R. missouriense, R. montigenum, R. nevadaense, R. niveum, R. oxyacanthoides, R. pinetorum, R. quercetorum, R. roezlii, R. rotundifolium, R. rubrum, R. sanguineum, R. sericeum, R. speciosum, R. thacherianum, R. triste, R. tularense, R. uva-crispa, R. velutinum, R. viburnifolium, R. victoris, R. viscosissimum, R. watsonianum, R. wolfii
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 201. 1753 ,
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