Grossulariaceae

Gooseberry Family

Currants and Gooseberries

FAMILY: Gooseberry family (Grossulariaceae) – Ribes genus.

SPECIES: All species of the Ribes genus are edible. #1 American black currant (Ribes americanum Mill.). #2 golden currant (Ribes aureum Pursh). #3 wax currant (Ribes cereum Douglas var. cereum). #4 whiskey currant (Ribes cereum Douglas var. pedicellare W. H. Brewer & S. Watson = Ribes cereum Douglas var. inebrians (Lindl.) C. L. Hitchc. = Ribes inebrians Lindl.). #5 Hudson currant or northern black currant (Ribes hudsonianum Richardson). #6 whitestem gooseberry (Ribes inerme Rydb.). #7 swamp or prickly currant (Ribes lacustre (Pers.) Poir.) #8 Colorado currant or trailing black currant (Ribes laxiflorum Pursh = Ribes coloradense Coville). #9 trumpet gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum A. Gray). #10 Mescalero currant (Ribes mescalerium Coville). #11 alpine prickly currant or mountain gooseberry (Ribes montigenum McClatchie). #12 snow currant (Ribes niveum Lindl.). #13 Inland gooseberry (Ribes oxyacanthoides L. var. setosum (Lindl.) Dorn = Ribes setosum Lindl.). #14 orange gooseberry (Ribes pinetorum Greene). #15 desert, oak, or rock gooseberry (Ribes quercetorum Greene). #16 velvet gooseberry (Ribes velutinum Greene). #17 sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum Pursh). #18 Wolf’s currant (Ribes wolfii Rothr.).

TO UTILIZE AS FOOD: Warning! Consuming large amounts of fresh currants or gooseberries may cause nausea or vomiting. Berries of all southwestern species are edible, but some taste significantly better than others. A wide range of colors, flavors, textures, and aromas exists between the species including: sweet, tart, bland, musky, foul, resinous, soft, chewy, firm, dry, juicy, fleshy, seedy, dusty, hairy, spiny, and otherwise. For this reason, species are hereby treated individually. In the Southwest, only orange gooseberry (R. pinetorum) has spiny berries. Those of other species are merely hairy, or hairless. Hairs pose no problems. Seeds taste worse than pulp. Flavor issues arise from an overabundance of seeds crowding out the pulp. Withered flower parts often persist on the berries. Removing these parts is preferable to consuming them, but removing them can be a nuisance. All species listed above are native to North America and tend to bloom in spring or early summer, sometimes earlier or sometimes later. Berries can be expected in summer or autumn, about 6 to 9 weeks after the flowers bloom. Most species were very important resources for Native Americans.

American black currant (R. americanum) occasionally reaches westward into New Mexico, but it’s mainly found in the northeastern United States and Canada. It’s a spineless species with pale yellow flowers that bloom from April to June and black, hairless, spineless fruits that rank among the best in the genus. I never found this species in the Southwest, but I sampled the fruits from shrubs growing in the Northeast. Hudson currants are similar, but American black currants are less resinous, more flavorful, and free of any unusual accents.

Golden currant (R. aureum var. aureum) produces top-quality berries in a variety of colors including red, orange, yellow, and purplish-black. The name refers to the flowers rather than the berries. No other spineless species in the Southwest have golden-yellow flowers. Golden currants are sweet, tart, hairless, and perfect for any recipe calling for berries. Dried berries are even sweeter. Seeds often degrade the flavor of currants and gooseberries, but those of golden currants taste fine. These shrubs can be found nearly throughout the western United States over a wide range of elevations. Three varieties of R. aureum are recognized, but only the aureum variety grows in the Southwest. The tube-shaped flowers bloom from March to June.

Wax currant (R. cereum var. cereum) produces red or reddish-orange berries sparsely covered with glandular hairs. The berries taste palatable, but not very sweet because seeds crowd out the pulp. A foul accent is often present and tartness is minimal. Gathering fully ripe berries is imperative, and reasonably easy since the shrubs are spineless. Fresh berries taste better than cooked berries. Cooking only highlights the foul accent. Pulp is the best-tasting part. Crowns of flower remnants are best removed. Drying the berries concentrates sweetness and changes the texture to a raisin-like consistency. Wax currants taste inferior to raisins, but they’re well worth the effort of harvesting and processing. Young leaves of wax currants are also reported to be edible, but they taste terribly acrid fresh or cooked. The acrid intensity starts low, and then builds into a raging fire. Wax currant leaves smell much better than they taste. Resins responsible for the acrid flavor also impart a spicy-fruity-musty aroma. Whether this aroma seems pleasant or unpleasant is a matter of personal opinion. Fresh leaves are shiny, tacky, and unsuitable for salads. Boiled leaves taste better, yet fail to qualify as palatable. Acrid resins and fruity accents endure the boiling process. The tubular, pink flowers bloom from April to August. Wax currant is a common shrub throughout the western United States. Two varieties are currently recognized, of which only the cereum variety (characterized by pubescent, stipitate-glandular sepals) grows in the Southwest. Note that the pedicellare (= inebrians) variety is no longer recognized by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System.

Hudson currant (R. hudsoniana) produces hairless, spineless, black berries covered with golden dots (sessile glands). The berries taste sweet, tart, foul, and strongly resinous. The overall combination is reasonably good. Gathering fully ripe berries is imperative because unripe berries taste awful due to the foul overtones. Once fully ripe, these unappealing overtones subside. The texture is pleasant. Hudson currants have more pulp than seeds, which is unusual for berries in the Ribes genus. The pulp is greenish with a few brown seeds. Gathering the berries is easy. They readily slide off the clusters (racemes) without any crowns or stalks attached. Boiling improves the flavor by tempering the foul overtones. Hudson currant is a spineless species that barely reaches the northern boundary of the Southwest. Its white, bowl-shaped to bell-shaped flowers bloom anytime from April to August depending on local growing conditions.

Whitestem gooseberry (R. inerme var. inerme) produces sweet, tart, hairless, reddish berries of excellent quality. They seem to disappear about as fast as they mature. Prior to maturity, the berries are yellowish-green or pink. Spiny stems hinder the gathering process, but gathering a supply is fairly easy. Berries often “hide” under the leaves. Whitestem gooseberries are fleshy, juicy, and relatively few-seeded. Seeds are firm, but chewable. Stalks easily detach. Removing the crowns of withered flower remnants is wise because they resist chewing and may harbor molds. Singeing effectively removes them. Boiling the berries produces a sweet, tart, pinkish-red beverage. Much of the sugar content dissolves into this beverage. Dried berries taste sweet, tart, and similar to dried cranberries. They also look like dried cranberries. Excessive shrinkage occurs in the drying process because the berries are very juicy. Whitestem gooseberry is common along mountain streams throughout the western United States. Two varieties are currently recognized, of which only the inerme variety (distinguished by its hairless sepals) occurs in the Southwest. Its white, cup-shaped to bell-shaped flowers bloom from April to June.

Swamp gooseberry (R. lacustre) produces purplish-black berries of mediocre quality. Pulp color is also purplish-black, or a bit lighter. The berries are slightly foul, very seedy, covered with glandular hairs, and not very palatable. The texture is easily chewable despite all the seeds. The glandular hairs don’t pose any problems. Boiling only highlights the less appealing aspects. Swamp gooseberry is a spiny species with pinkish-purple, bowl-shaped flowers that bloom from April to August. It’s found primarily in the northwestern United States, but a few scattered colonies reach the northern boundary of the Southwest.

Colorado currant (R. laxiflorum = R. coloradense) produces purplish-black berries of excellent quality. Berries turn from green to reddish-purple to nearly black when fully mature. They taste delicious, easily ranking as a top-quality wild food. Bitter, foul, and resinous overtones are not a problem with these berries. The short hairs are also not a problem. Colorado currants are rather seedy, but the seeds are soft and immersed in plenty of sweet pulp. Stalks readily detach, but crowns of withered flower parts persisting atop the berries tend to be annoying. Removing the crowns is wise. Berries occur in large clusters. Gathering a supply is easy. Colorado currant is primarily a Rocky Mountain species that extends southward into New Mexico. The reddish-pinkish-purple, bowl-shaped to cup-shaped flowers bloom from March to August.

Trumpet gooseberry (R. leptanthum) produces an abundant supply of rather unappealing berries. Fresh berries taste bitter, foul, and similar to honeysuckle berries. A fair amount of sweetness is also present. The flavor qualifies as palatable, but it’s below average for the genus. Cooking and dehydration have little effect upon the flavor. As the berries age, they turn from green to reddish-purple to nearly black when fully ripe. Mature trumpet gooseberries are shiny, hairless (or sparsely pubescent), spineless, and packed with seeds. A thin layer of flesh surrounds the pulp and seeds. The seeds are soft, leathery, and slimy. The “trumpets” (remains of withered flowers) are securely attached. They can be pulled off, but not without tearing the berries apart. Trumpet gooseberry inhabits the mountains of southern Utah and nearby areas. Its white, tubular flowers bloom from April to July.

Mescalero currant (R. mescalerium) is a rare species endemic to central New Mexico. It’s similar to sticky currant (R. viscosissimum), except for having smaller petals, darker berries, and a different range. I located Mescalero currant, but I didn’t sample its black, globe-shaped, glandular-pubescent berries. Within its homeland, it sure doesn’t seem to be in any danger of extinction, but its homeland only consists of a few mountain ranges. Mescalero currant is a spineless species with white, tubular flowers that bloom anytime from May to August.

Alpine currant (R. montigenum) produces bright-red berries of fairly good quality. Seeds are numerous and pulp is minimal. Alpine currants taste moderately sweet and lack any foul, resinous, or plant-like accents. Despite the formidable spines covering these little shrubs, the berries are free of spines. Only a few harmless glandular hairs mark the surfaces. Spines are more characteristic of gooseberries than currants, but alpine currant is an exception. Tongs are helpful for collecting the berries. Higher ranges throughout the Rocky Mountains and Intermountain Region usually have an ample supply of alpine currants. The reddish-pinkish-purple flowers bloom from June to August.

Snow currant (R. niveum) produces sweet, tart, juicy, hairless, spineless, bluish-purple berries of exceptionally good quality. No foul, musty, or resinous accents compromise the flavor. Despite the spiny branches, gathering the berries is easy. Spines tend to stay out of the way. The berries are suitable for any culinary endeavor involving berries. Snow currant is found in central Nevada and northwestward. The snow-white, tubular flowers with exceptionally long calyx lobes bloom from April to July.

Inland gooseberry (R. oxyacanthoides var. setosum) produces sweet, tart, juicy, hairless, spineless, purple berries of exceptionally high quality, easily ranking among the best in the genus. They persist on the shrubs past the point of ripeness and refuse to let go. Pulling the berries off the shrubs is a messy job. Berry stains are the color of blood—and may actually be blood no thanks to the spiny branches! Wearing gloves to protect the hands is recommended. Inland gooseberries are juicy and few-seeded. Drying them is difficult. Ideal drying conditions will be necessary. Dried berries are mostly skins. Fleshy portions are minimal. Five varieties of R. oxyacanthoides are currently recognized, but more have been described. None of them reach the Southwest, but the setosum variety—inland gooseberry—reaches northern Utah. Its white, tubular flowers bloom from April to July.

Orange gooseberry (R. pinetorum) produces sweet, tart, spiny, reddish-purple berries. It’s the only southwestern species with spiny berries. Only the flowers are orange, not the berries. About half the berry volume is pulp. Seeds fill the other half. Based on flavor, orange gooseberries rank among the best in the genus. Burning is recommended to disarm the spines. Boiling is also an option, but even after an hour of boiling, the spine tips can be sharp enough to irritate your mouth and throat. Boiling also degrades the flavor by drawing sugars out of the berries. The cooking water becomes sweet as the berries become bland. These minor issues can be avoided by burning the spines, but the flavor then acquires a charred accent. Gathering is best done soon after maturity because the berries don’t persist very long. Orange gooseberry is common in pine forests from central Arizona to central New Mexico and blooms anytime from March to September.

Desert gooseberry (R. quercetorum) produces shiny, hairless, spineless, dark-red berries that taste pleasantly sweet. Foul characteristics are minimal. The berries are packed with numerous seeds, but the seeds are soft. As its name indicates, desert gooseberry is a low-elevation species. It has yellow flowers that bloom early, from January to May. By midsummer it’s barely recognizable because the berries are long gone and most of the leaves have fallen. A few new leaves may appear after summer rains, but the shrubs otherwise appear dormant. Desert gooseberry is a spiny species found only in southern Arizona and California. Under ideal weather conditions, or even not so ideal, it can provide a generous supply of berries.

Velvet gooseberry (R. velutinum) produces reddish-purple berries covered with velvety hairs. The berries taste palatable. Foul characteristics are minimal. Except for the hairs, velvet gooseberries are essentially the same as desert gooseberries described above. The hairs don’t pose any problems. Velvet gooseberry is found primarily in the Great Basin. Its yellow flowers bloom from March to June, and its velvety fruits mature from August to October.

Sticky currant (R. viscosissimum) produces purple berries that rank among the better-tasting berries in the genus. Fresh berries taste sweet, weakly resinous, and weakly plant-like. It’s not a tart or foul flavor. The berries would taste better without the seeds. Sweetness is found primarily in the pulp between the seeds. Sticky hairs densely covering the berries don’t pose any problems, except for attracting dirt, dust, and debris that can easily be washed away. Sticky currant grows throughout the Intermountain Region and northward, and blooms anytime from May to August.

Wolf currant (R. wolfii) produces dusty, hairy, resinous, purplish-blue berries of low quality. The berries rank among the worst in the genus. Gathering fully ripe berries is imperative because astringency and resinous overtones are lowest at that point. Wolf currants taste similar to juniper fruits. However, wolf currants are definitely superior. Underneath the purplish-blue skins is greenish pulp mixed with numerous seeds. The pulp tastes better than the seeds. All parts are easily chewable. Stalks readily detach, as they normally do with currants. Cooking does nothing to improve the flavor. These currants are best fresh or dried. Wolf currants mature late compared to other species, usually towards the end of summer and into autumn. Leaves may be vibrantly colored when the berries finally mature. Wolf currant is a spineless species found primarily in the Rocky Mountains and Intermountain Region. Its white, bowl-shaped flowers bloom from May to August.

NOTES: I put a lot of effort into finding all the currants and gooseberries of the southwestern United States. Hopefully this article clarifies which southwestern species produce better berries than others. Currants and gooseberries have an extraordinary range of flavors and textures. Simply saying that “some are better than others” is merely one chapter of a longer story. Since the Southwest is well known for having a diversity of spiny things, it seems ironic that only one of its gooseberries (Ribes pinetorum) produces spines. Many authors say that boiling will effectively soften the spines of gooseberries. The gooseberries I tested seemed intent on remaining spiny even after boiling, but that was only one species. Perhaps spines of other species are more readily weakened by boiling. Fire promptly eliminated the spiny tips, but boiling was ineffective. Currants and gooseberries, at least the ones I had, seem better raw than cooked. Cooking offers little or no improvement in flavor and tends to make things worse. I wouldn’t recommend cooking currants or gooseberries. Bugs and diseases don’t seem to be much of a problem. Most of the berries I observed matured unharmed. Overall, currants and gooseberries are excellent resources.

IDENTIFICATION: About 50-55 species of the Ribes genus are found in the United States, of which about 15 occur in the Southwest. Currants eventually detach from their pedicels, while gooseberries are shed with their pedicels attached. Members of either group can be spiny or spineless. Currants tend to be spineless and gooseberries tend to be spiny, but not always. Note that in this genus hypanthiums start at the bases of the ovaries and extend well above the ovaries as “free” portions. Lower portions are fused to the ovaries, while upper free portions can be cup-, bowl- or tube-shaped, and very colorful. Sepals, petals, and stamens attach to the hypanthium rims. Hypanthiums are often called calyx tubes, because they look like calyx tubes, and the sepals look like calyx lobes. These terms are used interchangeably in descriptive literature.

Description of currants and gooseberries (the Ribes genus): FORM woody shrubs about 4-30 dm tall; often aromatic; surfaces hairy or hairless; BRANCHES with or without spines; LEAVES simple; alternate or clustered on short lateral branches; stalked; blades generally round in outline with 3-5 deeply palmate lobes; FLOWERS regular, perfect, ovary inferior, and arranged individually or clustered; emerging from the axils or terminals; pedicels with or without joints; hypanthiums bowl-, cup- or tube-shaped; sepals 5, white, yellow, orange, pink, or purple; petals 5, free, tiny, and colorful; pistils 1; styles 2, free or almost completely united; stamens usually 5; FRUITS berries generally fleshy, juicy, globe-shaped, and filled with numerous seeds; often sticky, aromatic, or topped with remnants of the flowers; surfaces smooth, hairy, bristly, or spiny; occasionally glaucous; HABITAT diverse; from deserts to mountains; throughout the United States.

REFERENCES: Kirk (pp. 87-89) states that all species of the Ribes genus produce edible fruits. #1 American black currant (Ribes americanum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #2 golden currant (Ribes aureum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #3 wax currant (Ribes cereum var. cereum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #4 whiskey currant (Ribes cereum var. pedicellare = Ribes cereum var. inebrians = Ribes inebrians): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #5 northern black currant (Ribes hudsonianum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #6 whitestem gooseberry (Ribes inerme): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #7 swamp currant (Ribes lacustre): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #8 trailing black currant (Ribes laxiflorum = Ribes coloradense): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #9 trumpet gooseberry (Ribes leptanthum): fruits Moerman (p. 219). #10 Mescalero currant (Ribes mescalerium): fruits Moerman (p. 219). #11 mountain gooseberry (Ribes montigenum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #12 snow currant (Ribes niveum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #13 inland gooseberry (Ribes oxyacanthoides var. setosum = Ribes setosum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #14 orange gooseberry (Ribes pinetorum): fruits Moerman (p. 220). #15 desert gooseberry (Ribes quercetorum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #16 velvet gooseberry (Ribes velutinum): fruits Moerman (p. 221). #17 sticky currant (Ribes viscosissimum): fruits Couplan (pp. 200-203). #18 Wolf’s currant (Ribes wolfii): fruits Moerman (p. 221).