Sticky currant

Photo: Walter Siegmund (talk) — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 4 through 7

Harvest calendar

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

Sources genuinely disagree on this one: PFAF calls the fruit "highly esteemed", but Wikipedia and Virginia Tech's dendrology reference both independently describe the round, blue-black, very sticky berries as unpalatable or not edible. Two specific sources against one generic rating is worth taking seriously — don't expect much from this one at the table.

Hardiness

Zone 4–7

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer

Mature size

1–2 m, spreading to erect, stems sticky-hairy but without spines or bristles

Light

Full sun to part shade

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (mildly acid to neutral) — sandy or loamy, not clay

Environment

Montane, temperate

Native range

Western Canada and the western United States — British Columbia and Alberta south to California, Arizona and Colorado; mountain forest, streambanks and sagebrush plateau.

Status

Wild

Years to fruit

2–3 yrs

Growth speed

Moderate

Spacing

150 cm (59 in) apart — about 2.3 m² (24 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Alternate, rounded to kidney-shaped and shallowly 3–5 lobed, 2–6 cm across, thick and covered in sticky glandular hairs — the trait the name refers to, and strongly aromatic when handled.

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

Round, blue-black, very sticky, about 1 cm

Propagation

Seed (sown fresh in autumn, or 3 months cold stratification at -2 to 0°C if stored), half-ripe cuttings in July–August, or hardwood cuttings November–February.

Pollination

NOT self-fertile. A controlled study of wild western Ribes recorded zero mature fruit from 736 self-pollinated flowers across four species including this one, against 286 fruits from 621 cross-pollinated flowers — every seed-bearing fruit came from insect cross-pollination. One plant on its own will flower and set nothing.

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.