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Species: Red, pink and white currants belong to three European species (Ribes rubrum, R. petraeum, R. sativum). Black currants are related to European (R. nigrum) and Asian (R. ussuriense) species.
Other common names include Currant (English), Johannisbeere (German), Ribes (Danish, Swedish, Italian), Groseille (French), and Bes (Flemish). The English word 'currant' has been used for this fruit only since 1550, taken from the fruit's resemblance to the dried currants of Greece, raisins made from a small seedless grape. The much older English name 'ribes' is of ancient Indo-European origin and is common to other languages.
Related Species: Gooseberry (Ribes grossularia, R. hirtellum), Buffalo Currant (R. aureum), Jostaberry (R. nigrum X hirtellum).
Adaptation: Currants grow best in summer humid, cool regions with great winter chilling. They are best adapted to USDA Hardiness Zones 3 through 5, although in California they are fairly productive in the coolest parts of the San Francisco Bay Area and coastal northern California. They should be considered experimental only in southern California. Currants are amendable to container culture.
DESCRIPTION
Growth Habit: All forms of currant are deciduous shrubs, fast growing under optimum conditions. The plant is a multiple-stemmed clump, to 5 feet high and as broad, but is suitable for training as a standard. Annual growth is in a single flush in spring. The roots are superficial, fine and easily damaged by frequent cultivation.
Foliage: The leaves are alternate, single, lobed and maple-like. Black currant leaves are pale green, while those of the red currant are deep blue-green. Both are easily burned by intense sunlight. Leaf size and number is reduced under water stress.
Flowers: Currant flowers are borne toward the bases of one-year old stems and on spurs on older stems. They appear in early spring with new growth. Each flower bud opens to number of flowers (up to 20), joined together on a delicate, drooping 5 - 6 inch stem, called a strig. The strig length is reduced or flowering is suppressed by lack of winter chill. Individual flowers (green in the case of red currants and blush pink for black currants) are not showy, but joined together on the strig they give the bush a lacy texture. Pollination is by hoverflies and other insects. Black currant flowers also attract honeybees. Most currants have self-fertile flowers, but a few cultivars are partially self-sterile, so set more fruits with cross-pollination. To increase both fruit size and number, clip off part of the ends of the strigs while the bushes are flowering. Depending upon the cultivar, fruits ripen from 70 to 100 days after blossoming.
Fruit: Fully set strigs will be a pendulous chain of small berries. The fruit is easier to pick if their strigs are long and have "handles" (clear lengths at the bases) for holding onto while harvesting. Black currants commonly ripen from the top down, encouraging birds to strip berries as they color. Modern red currant varieties have been selected for their ability to ripen all the berries on a strig at once. Berries of red, white and pink currants are translucent; black currants are matte brown-purple. The berries contain 3 - 12 minute, bony seeds.
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