Ribes alpinum
L.
Alpine currant, Mountain currant
(c) Nadezhda Zelenova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Nadezhda Zelenova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Nadezhda Zelenova, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit, Leaves
The fruit can be eaten raw or cooked. It is sweet and low in acid, but less palatable than the red currant (R. rubrum) — generally considered insipid. That said, fruits grown from plants with both male and female specimens present can be good-sized red currants with a fair flavour. The fruit is about 5mm in diameter and can be freely produced when male and female plants are grown together.
Where to Find It
It is a temperate plant. It suits hardiness zones 2-9. Arboretum Tasmania.
Africa, Armenia, Asia, Australia, Balkans, Bosnia, Britain, Caucasus, Estonia, Europe, Finland, Georgia, Hungary, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Mediterranean, Morocco, North Africa, Russia, Scandinavia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Tasmania, Turkey, Türkiye,
How to Identify
A shrub. It loses its leaves during the year. It grows 0.9-1.8 m high and spreads 0.9 m wide. The stems are smooth and red-purple. The leaves are 5 cm across and usually have 3 lobes. Male and female flowers are separate. The flowers are small and yellowish green. The fruit are red and bitter.
How to Grow
Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality. This species succeeds on poor soils. Does well in shade though it does not fruit so well in such a position. A very hardy plant, tolerating temperatures down to about -25°c. A number of named varieties have been developed for their ornamental value. The flowers are sweetly fragrant. Plants are dioecious. At least one male plant must be grown in the vicinity of up to 5 females if fruit is required. Plants can harbour a stage of white pine blister rust, so 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 out seedlings into individual pots when large enough to handle and grow on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting out in late spring the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood can be taken in July/August in a frame. Cuttings of mature wood of 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 bed outdoors.
Medicinal Uses
None known.
Other Uses
The cultivar 'Green Mound' makes a good dwarf hedge. Plants can also be used as a tall ground cover when spaced about 2 metres apart in each direction. The smaller-growing cultivars 'Aureum' and 'Pumilum' are better suited to spacing of about 1 metre apart.
Wikipedia
Source ↗Ribes alpinum, known as mountain currant or alpine currant, is a small deciduous, dioecious shrub native to central and northern Europe from Finland and Norway south to the Alps and Pyrenees and Caucasus, Georgia; in the south of its range, it is confined to high altitudes. It is scarce in western Europe, in Britain being confined to a small number of sites in northern England and Wales.
Other Information
It is sold in local markets.
Notes
There are about 150 Ribes species.
Names & Synonyms
Adil nouchen, Alpsko grozdičje, çalıçileği, Grosella, Imal soster, Inalad, Leanykafuge, Maamaks, Mage sostar, Mammuspuu, Naestomari, Planinska ribizla, Qars-momou, Raspanilla, Ribizla, Taghmamoucht, Vad ribizli
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