Edible shrub - novice Season - present all year. Flowers: spring. Fruits: summer Common names Redcurrant, red currant, northern redcurrant, garnet currant, garnet berry
Scientific name meaning: Ribes is Arabic in origin and means having sour sap. Rubrum is Latin and means to become red
Habitat  A native shrub that is often cultivated. Redcurrant can be found growing wild in woodland and hedgerows. |
Overall structure  A tall, leggy shrub that has lots of cane-like growth near its base. It can be found as individual specimens or in small groups. |
Leaves  The leaves are palmately lobed with a toothed edge. The leaf stem can have small hairs. The leaves do not have a distinctive smell when crushed. |
Stem  The stems are cylindrical, giving a circular cross section, starting off green and flexible and aging to brown and woody. |
Flowers  The pale yellow flowers appear on dangling racemes. The petals are recurved back giving a bowl-like appearance and exposing the external reproductive structures. |
Fruit  The glossy, red, spherical berries appear in summer. The remains of the flowers stay attached to the bottom of the fruits. |
Possible lookalikes  Can be confused for other currants. All have edible fruit, the colour of which can be used to distinguish them. However, blackcurrant and flowering currant, pictured, both have leaves that smell strongly when crushed. Mountain currant has erect racemes and gooseberry has prickles and no racemes. Sycamores and maples have similar leaves but don't produce berries. |
Use as a food The berries can be used to make jams, jellies, cordials, wine, syrup, fruit leather and chutneys. They can be sharp so usually require sugar to sweeten Use in herbal medicine and medicine Has been used to treat constipation, rheumatism and scurvy
If you are suffering from any ailment or need medical advice, please see your General Practitioner.
Hazards The leaves contain hydrogen cyanide so should not be consumed in large quantities
Other uses The berries are used in facemasks to firm the skin. Dyes are obtained from the leaves (yellow) and fruit (black) Importance to other species Provides an important food source for pollinators, particularly bees, birds and small mammals
Always stay safe when foraging. You need to be 100% sure of your identification, 100% sure that your foraged item is edible, and 100% sure that you are not allergic to it (it is good practice to always try a small amount of any new food you are consuming). If in doubt, leave it out!
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