Herb: Rock Red Currant


Latin name: Ribes petraeum


Family: Grossulariaceae (Currant Family)



Edible parts of Rock Red Currant:

Fruit - raw or cooked in tarts, jams, jellies etc. A very acid flavour. A red currant, the fruit is pleasantly tart when fully ripe. 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. Its main drawback is the quantity of seeds in each fruit.

Description of the plant:



Plant:
Deciduous
Shrub

Height:
180 cm
(6 feet)

Habitat of the herb:

Mountains from C. Europe to the Pyrenees.

Propagation of Rock Red Currant:

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. 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. 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.

Cultivation of the herb:

Mountains from C. Europe to the Pyrenees.

Medicinal use of Rock Red Currant:

None known

Known hazards of Ribes petraeum:

None known

Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future.