Red Currant

This species is cultivated as an ornamental in cold regions and is also used for making fruit drinks and wine.

Shrubs 1-1.5 m tall. Branchlets glabrous or scattered shortly stalked glandular, unarmed. Buds purplish brown, oblong-ovoid to oblong, 5-7 mm, apex obtuse or acute. Petiole 3-6 cm, sometimes puberulent, glandular hairy near base; leaf blade suborbicular, 3-7 × 4-9 cm, glabrous, rarely puberulent abaxially or sparsely stalked glandular along veins, base cordate, rarely subtruncate; lobes 3-5, broadly ovate-triangular, margin coarsely sharply serrate, apex obtuse to acute; terminal lobe subequaling lateral ones. Racemes erect then nodding, 2-6 cm, 5-15-flowered; rachis and pedicels sparsely shortly stalked glandular; bracts broadly ovate, rarely suborbicular, 1-2 mm, glabrous. Flowers bisexual, 6-8 mm in diam.; pedicel 3-5 mm. Calyx greenish or greenish brown, glabrous; tube pelviform, 1-1.5 mm; lobes erect, spatulate-orbicular, 2-2.5 mm. Petals purplish, subspatulate to subflabellate, 0.5-1 mm. Stamens equaling or longer than petals. Ovary glabrous. Style equaling or longer than stamens, 2-lobed. Fruit red, globose, rarely ellipsoid, 0.8-1.1 cm in diam., glabrous. Fl. May-Jun, fr. Jul-Aug.

NE China (precise distribution unknown) [N Asia; Europe].

Ribes scandicum Hedlund; R. spicatum E. Robson; R. sylvestre Syme.