Ribes petraeum
Rock Red Currant
Taxonomy and growth
- Family
- Grossulariaceae
- Genus
- Ribes
- Life cycle
- perennial
- Foliage
- deciduous
- Woodiness
- woody
- Height
- 1.8 m
- Fertility
- Insects
- Flower type
- hermaphrodite
- Pollinators
- Insects
Uses
Edible uses
Fruit - raw or cooked in tarts, jams, jellies etc[1][6][7]. A very acid flavour[2]. A red currant, the fruit is pleasantly tart when fully ripe[K]. Whilst many people will find it too tart to be eaten raw in quantity, it makes a very good cooked fruit in jams, preserves etc[K]. Its main drawback is the quantity of seeds in each fruit[K].
- Plant part
- Fruit
Environment
- Range
- W. and C. Europe.
- Habitat
- Mountains from C. Europe to the Pyrenees[9].
- Light
- full sun
- Shade tolerance
- light shade
- Water
- moderate
- Hardiness
- Zone 6+
- Soil textures
- sandy, loamy, clay
- Soil pH
- acid, neutral, alkaline
- Drainage
- well drained
- Tolerates Nutritionally Poor Soil
- No
- Drought
- intolerant
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Stored seed requires 3 months cold stratification at between 0 and 5°c and should be sown as early in the year as possible[3][5]. Under normal storage conditions the seed can remain viable for 17 years or more. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots when they are large enough to handle and grow them on in a cold frame for their first winter, planting them out in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of half-ripe wood, 10 - 15cm with a heel, July/August in a frame[10][3]. Cuttings of mature wood of the current year's growth, preferably with a heel of the previous year's growth, November to February in a cold frame or sheltered bed outdoors[10][8].
Cultivation
Easily grown in a moisture retentive but well-drained loamy soil of at least moderate quality[2][8]. Plants are quite tolerant of shade though do not fruit so well in such a position[2]. Hardy to about -20°c[8]. This is one of the species from which the cultivated forms of red currants have been derived[7][8]. Plants can harbour a stage of white pine blister rust, so should not be grown in the vicinity of pine trees[4]. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus[8].
References
Tanaka. T. Tanaka's Cyclopaedia of Edible Plants of the World. Keigaku Publishing 1976-00-00
Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981-00-00
Dirr. M. A. and Heuser. M. W. The Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation. Athens Ga. Varsity Press 1987-00-00 ISBN 0942375009
Arnberger. L. P. Flowers of the Southwest Mountains. Southwestern Monuments Ass. 1968-00-00
Bird. R. (Editor) Growing from Seed. Volume 4. Thompson and Morgan. 1990-00-00
Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984-00-00 ISBN 3874292169
Facciola. S. Cornucopia - A Source Book of Edible Plants. Kampong Publications 1990-00-00 ISBN 0-9628087-0-9
Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992-00-00 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
? Flora Europaea Cambridge University Press 1964-00-00
Sheat. W. G. Propagation of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers. MacMillan and Co 1948-00-00