Ribes aciculare

What to Eat

Edible parts: Fruit

The red fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. It is large, sweet, and tasty, reaching up to 15mm in diameter.

Where to Find It

It is a cold temperate plant. In Kazakhstan it grows on stony slopes in low mountain belts. In western China it grows between 1,500-2,100 m above sea level.

Asia, Central Asia, China, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Russia, Siberia,

How to Identify

A shrub. It grows 1 m tall. The stems have sharp bristles. The bark is light grey. The leaves are rounded and have 3-5 lobes. Leaves are up to 3 cm wide. They are shiny above. The flowers do not have stalks and are greenish-white or pink. The fruit are berries 1-1.5 cm wide. The fruit are red, green or yellow.

How to Grow

Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality. Quite tolerant of shade though not fruiting so well in such a position. The dormant plant is hardy to about -20°c. This species is closely related to R. burejense. Plants can harbour a stage of 'white pine blister rust', so they should not be grown in the vicinity of pine trees. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.

Propagation: Seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months of cold stratification at 0–9°C and should be sown as early in the year as possible. Under normal storage conditions seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle, grow on in a cold frame for their first winter, and plant out in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood can be taken in July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood from the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, can be taken November to February in a cold frame or sheltered outdoor bed.

Medicinal Uses

None known.

Other Uses

None known.

Ribes aciculare is a species of flowering plant in the currant/gooseberry family Grossulariacea, generally regarded as closely related to Ribes burejense. It is native to central and northern Asia, and has been reported as native to Altay, Kazakhstan, Krasnoyarsk, Mongolia, Tuva, West Siberia, Xinjiang. Its habitats vary from stony hill and mountain slopes to forest margins and thickets. In Northern China it has been found at altitudes of 1,500-2,100 metres. The plant is very cold hardy, and can tolerate temperatures down to -20°C during dormancy (typically the winter months). The plant typically forms a deciduous shrub of about 1 metre or somewhat more. The shrub's branchlets are glabrous, with 3-7 spines forming at branchlet nodes. It generally grows in semi-shade (light woodland) or without shade, and can survive in light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils, which can be acid, neutral or basic (alkaline). It does best in moist but well-drained soil, and tends to set more fruit if unshaded. Flowering takes place from May to June. The plant is hermaphrodite and the flowers are pollinated by insects. The fruits ripen from July to August, taking the form of red globes of up to 15mm in diameter, similar to other species in its genus. The fruit is edible, both raw and cooked; it is sweet and pleasant-tasting. The fruit is harvested from wild plants for local use, and is sometimes cultivated as a fruit crop in parts of Russia. Where cultivated there are some named varieties, some of which may be crosses with the gooseberry (Ribes uva-crispa). Like other Ribes species, R. aciculare is particularly susceptible to honey fungus. The plant can also become infected with white pine blister rust (Cronartium ribicola)), a rust fungus whose heteroecious life cycle requires it to infect a Ribes plant as an obligate secondary host.

Production

In western China plants flower in May and June and fruit in July and August.

Notes

There are about 150-200 Ribes species. Most are in the northern hemisphere. There are 40 species in tropical America in the high Andes.

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