Ribes americanum

American Black Currant

American Black Currant
Photo courtesy Wisconsin State Herbarium and Joanne Kline

Flora, fauna, earth, and sky...
The natural history of the northwoods

Name:

• Ribes, from the Arabic or Persian ribas, "acid-tasting", referring to the fruit
• americanum, from the Latin, "of America"
• Common Name, from color of the fruit
• Other common names include Eastern Black Currant, Wild Black Currant

Taxonomy:

• Kingdom Plantae, the Plants
  • Division Magnoliophyta, the Angiosperms (flowering plants)
    • Class Magnoliopsida, the Dicotyledons
    • Subclass Rosidae, the Roses
      • Order Rosales, the Roses
        • Family Grossulariaceae, the Gooseberries
          • Genus Ribes, Currants and Gooseberries
• Taxonomic Serial Number: 24451
• Also known as Ribes floridum

Description:

• A ¼, ½, ¾, º, é
• Leaves
• Stem
• Roots
• Flowers
• Sepals
• Petals
• Stamens
• Pistils
• Ovary superior (within blossom) inferior (below flower)
• Fruit
• Seed
• A native, many branched, deciduous shrub, 3½'-5' tall.
• Leaves three to five lobed, 1¼"-3¼" wide, gland-dotted beneath.
• Branches erect, without spines.
• Flowers in drooping racemes of five to ten blossoms.
• Fruit round blue black berry, smooth with many seeds; low in lipids and high in sugars.

Identification:

• Identifiable as
• Distinguished from
• Field Marks

Distribution:

• Alaska to Newfoundland,
• East of the Rocky Mountains from Alberta to Nova Scotia, south to Delaware, Nebraska, and New Mexico.

Habitat:

• Swamps, moist woods and canyons, along roadsides, and on plains, foothills, and mountains.
• Clay, sandy, and rocky soils.
• Somewhat shade tolerant, often growing in moist forests. In Minnesota, very dense Balsam Fir (Abies balsamea) or White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis) overstories suppress currants.

Fire:

• Regeneration is probably favored by fire because scarification of soil-stored seed generally enhances germination.
• Fire probably severely damages or kills individual plants.

Associates:

• Trees:
• Shrubs:
• Herbs:
• Ground Covers:
• Mammals: Fruit a valuable food source for chipmunks, ground squirrels, and other animals.
• Birds: Eaten by songbirds.

History:

Uses:

• Fruit used for making jam, jelly and pie.

Reproduction:

• Sexually by seed
• Flowers
• Assexually by
• Reproduces mainly by seed; the ability to sprout from the root crown has not been documented.
• Fruiting begins after 3 years. Many seeds fall beneath the parent plant; they are also dispersed by birds and mammals.
• Mineral soil and scarification generally enhance germination.
• Fallen seed may remain viable in the soil and duff for many years. Drying seed may induce dormancy.

Propagation:

• By seed, following cold stratification. A germination rate of 76% has been obtained by stratifying seed at 28º and 36º F. for 90-120 days. Seeds were stratified and germinated in sand moistened with nutrient solution.

Cultivation:

• Hardy to USDA Zone 3 (average minimum annual temperature -40ºF)
• Cultural Requirements
• Sun
• Soil
• Water
• Spacing
• Fertilization
• Size 12"-18"W x 12"-18"H
• Growth rate
• Good for
• Cultivars include
• variety 'Alba', with
• Cultivars and species available by mail order from specialty suppliers or at local nurseries
• Cultivated as an ornamental shrub.
• Alternate host for White Pine Blister Rust (Cronartium ribicola) which infests five needle pines. Because of their association with the rust, currants have been the targets of various eradication efforts.

Links:

• Fire Effects Information System (FEIS)

Comments: