Plant · P-447

Black Currant

Ribes nigrum

Black currant is a clump-forming shrub that stays put where planted rather than suckering, and needs one of the coldest winter chills of any temperate fruit before it will fruit well. A mature bush hands over five to seven pounds a year of fruit so rich in vitamin C it is eaten raw, cooked into jam and pies, or dried into a tea, and the leaves and seed oil go into medicine and cosmetics besides. It's a heavy feeder that wants rich, near-neutral soil, and in several states it is illegal or restricted to grow at all because it spreads white pine blister rust.