Appalachian gooseberry

Photo: Image taken by Danny Dalton on 4/2/2007. — Public domain · source

Survives zone 4 through 7

Harvest calendar

Ripens: Mid-summer

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

One of the better-flavoured gooseberries here — smooth-skinned (unlike most spiny gooseberries in this catalog) with a very good taste. A high-elevation Appalachian species of balds, boulderfields and rocky forest.

Hardiness

Zone 4–7

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Mid-summer

Mature size

To about 1 m (3 ft)

Light

Full sun to part shade; fruits best in sun

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (mildly acid to neutral)

Environment

Montane, temperate

Native range

Appalachian Mountains — Massachusetts and the Adirondacks south to South Carolina and Tennessee, mostly at high elevation.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Moderate

Spacing

120 cm (47 in) apart — about 1.4 m² (16 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, rounded and shallowly 3–5 lobed, 2–4 cm across, smooth or slightly hairy.

Root system

Shallow and fibrous, the bulk of it in the top 30–45 cm and spreading wider than the bush is tall. Two consequences worth planning for: it dries out quickly in a hot summer, so mulch and water rather than cultivate around it, and low branches that touch the ground will often layer themselves, which is the easiest way to get a new plant.

Fruit description

Black, round, resin-dotted, about 8 mm, in hanging clusters, smooth-skinned

Propagation

Seed (sown fresh in autumn, or 3+ months cold stratification if stored — remains viable 17+ years), half-ripe cuttings in July–August, or hardwood cuttings November–February.

Pollination

Hermaphrodite, insect-pollinated.

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.